Shock of the Lightning
by battousai222
Summary: Two and a Half years can do a lot to a person. Naruto returns a different man: Strong, smart, deadly, powerful, a true ninja in every way. His path in life will reshape the Shinobi world. NarutoXFemale.
1. Realizations

Well here's another story of mine that I've thought up. I hope you read through the whole chapter before deciding its crap or not.

NarutoXFemale

And for those out there like me that hate reading the first chapter and not having a clue about how the story is going to go… well here's a small summary of the entire story:

Summary: After the Valley of the End battle between Sasuke and Naruto, Naruto starts thinking his life through and what he comes up with is rather startling. With these new realizations he sets out to make his own way in the world whether that's with Konoha or otherwise. Two and a half years later he comes back with Jiraiya of the Sannin a completely new guy. The village and his friends that he left behind don't know what to think of the new Naruto, but one thing is for sure… He's a lot more powerful than when he left. But with power comes maturity, and with maturity truths are revealed. With truths comes betrayal and with betrayal comes the real world. Through all the hardships he faces one thing is for certain, Naruto will never give up on his friends and loved ones no matter how distant they may fall apart.

Shock of the Lightning

Realizations

"Sasuke!" That was the shout of a boy in his early thirteen's that was standing on a log across from said boy. He was dressed in a blindingly bright orange jump suit that just screamed kill me to any one that saw it. It didn't help any that his occupation was being a ninja and he relied on stealth. He had blood red eyes with black slits in them and wild blond hair.

The said boy across from the first was standing staring at the first. His name was Uchiha Sasuke and his eyes were red with three tomes in each eye. He had on black pants and a white shirt also standing on a log not but twenty feet away from the other boy.

Both boys had small cuts on each other and some dirt littering their clothes.

"Sasuke, I'll bring you back no matter what, even if I have to break every bone in your body!"

Sasuke just looked at him and snarled slightly. "Naruto…I won't go back… I can't go back, not anymore, and definitely not with you!" He never broke eye contact with the other boy now known as Naruto when he spoke.

Naruto was taken aback by that statement but he took it the wrong way and he was just about to yell at the other boy when he spoke up again silencing him.

"Why… why would you go so far for me Naruto? Why are you willing to risk your own life to save mine?" He asked just above a whisper.

Naruto actually recoiled at the statement but let his fierce eyes soften somewhat. "Sasuke." The other boy looked back up to him and made eye contact again. "I… you, you're the first person I've ever had a real bond with besides the old man." He told honestly.

"You're my best and only friend in the village Sasuke."

Sasuke's eyes widened slightly but he nodded in understanding. "I see... you're my best friend to." With that he stood up from his sitting position he took on his log and reached into his pocket.

Naruto tensed getting ready for another attack but smiled when he saw what he brought out of his pocket. Sasuke grabbed his metal forehead protector and tied it on around his forehead and secured it tightly like Naruto had his. Both had a symbol of a leaf on it representing they were both Konoha ninja.

"But you're too late Naruto; I can't go back, especially if it's with you."

"What do you mean?" Naruto asked confused.

Looking up Naruto saw something he didn't see much from the stoic Uchiha friend of his. He was smiling but not one of his cocky smiles that he always got, but a real smile.

"It's because I know how the village would react if you brought me back half dead and beaten." He stated matter of factly.

Naruto was confused for a second before realization dawned on him. Sasuke continued seeing the look of understanding. "If you brought me back half dead the village would do one of two things that I can't allow to happen to you. One would be execution and the other is to be exiled. Neither of which you can afford."

Naruto grimaced as what he said was true no matter how much he didn't want it to be. "I'm there precious last Uchiha, the last of my bloodline in Konoha. If I were to be hurt by the 'demon boy' as they like to call you." Naruto's eyes widen hearing this.

Sasuke saw this and smiled sadly. "You really think I didn't notice all the hate you got in the village, I don't know why they hate you but that doesn't really matter. The point is, if you come back with me half dead you will suffer gravely for hurting their 'precious Uchiha' in some way. That is the reason I'm going to win here. I can't afford to lose, not this time, for both of our health I'll win!"

Naruto stood there rooted to his spot as what Sasuke said washed over him. He had to admit, no matter how much it hurt, that he was right. He couldn't bring him back now. Not like this.

"I understand… but…" He couldn't even think properly right now, the facts were getting to him too much.

Sasuke saw this. "Naruto." Said boy looked up from his hands making eye contact one more time. "Let's finish this right here, right now, our strongest attacks against each other." He said with a small smile.

Naruto looked at him and didn't understand why he still wanted to fight, but then realized he wanted to end it with a bang and see who really could end up on top. Smiling his own little smile he replied in kind. "Hai (yes) let's finish it."

With that both jumped off their respective logs backwards about thirty feet each landing on the water using chakra to stay on top of it. They both looked up and saw they were about one hundred feet away from each other. They both nodded and started their attacks.

Naruto put his hands in a ram seal and started to gather his chakra around him. Slowly a red chakra started to come up from his stomach area. This red substance started to bubble over and slowly cover his body in the red chakra substance. After a few seconds the chakra was covering his entire body from head to toe. The substance slowly started to form a shape around his body that eventually turned into a fox with one tail. His hair turned wilder, his blood red eyes seemed to get even redder, and his finger nails turned into claws. Naruto grunted as the process was over and slowly bent his knees because his body wanted to go on all fours but he refused to fight like an animal. So he settled to fight with his knees slightly bent.

After that was done Naruto held out his right hand and slowly small wisps of blue chakra started to form in his palm. This was his normal chakra and every second the chakra kept getting bigger and bigger until it was a flurry of blue chakra in his hand. Then the red chakra surrounding his body started to bubble and pop around the blue in his hand and the blue chakra slowly took the form of a ball. This all happened in a couple of seconds. If one looked closely at the ball of chakra they would see a solid outline with an inside of thousands of moving partials of chakra that made the ball shine brightly in his hand and hum lightly.

After the nod for each other to start, Sasuke also went through a small transformation. The seal on his neck pulsed and slowly started to spread across his body showing flame like tattoos moving across his body. In no time at all the seal covered his entire body and it started to change. The black markings started to expand slowly and cover his entire body. The first thing to visibly happen was his hair growing longer to about middle back and turning purple instead of the normal black it was. His finger nails turned into claws, and he developed a cross on his nose. Then he grunted as he bent over slightly and two purple bat like wings protruded out of his back.

After his transformation was complete he formed four hand seals as fast as he could and gripped his right wrist with his left hand tightly. He pointed his hand downward and cupped it like he was holding a big ball. A spark went off in his hand and it slowly started to expand getting larger and larger. The small spark turned into a lightning storm in his hand that cover his hand completely in electricity and formed a small ball of lightning. The ball of lightning was making a sound like a thousand birds chirping.

After completing their transformation and their respective jutsu's they both looked up at each other and stared in awe at the others changes. That stunned look quickly changed to one of recognition of the others power. With not but a small twitch of the lips as indicator, they both leapt at each other throwing their attacks that were in there right hands behind them.

Both jumped straight into the air propelled so fast by their new powered up bodies that is was nothing but a blur to anyone below a high Chunnin level ninja, but to them it was like they were both going in slow motion. They both stared each other in the eyes the entire way until they were right on each other.

Not but five feet away from the other boy, they both threw all there might into their right arms and thrust them forward as fast and hard as they could.

"Chidori!" (Thousand Birds) Sasuke yelled.

"Rasengan!" (Spiraling Sphere) Naruto yelled while still staring right into the others boy's eyes.

The two attacks collided with a resounding shockwave that rippled across the entire lake creating waves two feet high starting from where they met.

Both boys saw their attack hit each other and felt the shock wave but ignored it to focus on their attacks. Sasuke's lightning ball was piercing Naruto's grinding sphere. Without hesitation they both knew this was the last attack so they both poured as much chakra into their attacks as they could. Gritting their teeth they forced their attacks harder onto each other.

What happened after that was a shockwave of such magnitude that the entire water in the lake they were standing on parted in a circle around the two boys that were suspended in mid air by their jutsu's clashing. The two attacks seemed to melt together into one and form a ball of chakra that turned pure black in color and expanded around them engulfing them in the attack also.

The sphere of pitch black chakra grew to several times their size and ended just a few short seconds after it started. Inside the sphere both boys put the last of their chakra into their attacks that at this point had all but dissipated and sent their attacks at the others shoulder area. Both gritted their teeth in agony as they both hit the mark dead on.

When the sphere finally dissipated a new island had formed where Sasuke was standing over the nearly unconscious Naruto holding his left shoulder where you could see shredded skin. At his feet Naruto's shoulder was pierces an inch deep. Falling to his knees he stared at his best friend and somehow knew he would be ok, no better than ok, he would be great.

With this feeling in mind he stood on shaky legs and limped towards the fire boarder that separated Fire country from Grass country. Just out of ear shot though he stopped and turned his head facing Naruto with a real smile on his face.

"Naruto… I don't know if you can hear me or not, but that was one hell of a fight, and only you deserve the title of my best friend and greatest rival. I know our paths will cross again and when they do… I look forward to that day brother."

He was just about to turn around when he heard a voice just above that of a whisper but he heard it none the less and looked towards the boy he considered a brother and saw him staring at him with deep blue eyes. "As do I brother… and next time I'll be stronger than you, you can count on that..." With that Naruto turned his head and stared up at the sky that was starting to rain.

Sasuke smiled again and grunted in acknowledgment that he heard him. Turning around again he headed to the sound village and away from his new found brother and Konoha.

* * *

Naruto stared at the ceiling in irritation, no that wasn't the word to describe how he felt, he felt betrayed, scorned, and hated, and all in all he felt lonely. You see he was at the one place he hated above all else, a hospital, they just brought back to many memories of when he was a kid and getting beat by the villagers and ended up in the hospital more times than not.

"I can't believe it's been two weeks and only three people have visited me!" Naruto's voice was laced in barely contained malice and hate, even though he was talking to no one in particular but himself.

He's been in the hospital for two weeks and during that time he can honestly say he has been getting angrier and angrier with himself and the others in the village. The only people to have actually came and visited him were Tsunade, Shizune, and Jiraiya.

Tsunade came in immediately when she was done with the other people that got here before him. Supposable the other people in his rescue group were injured fighting there opponents of none other than the sound four or five if you considered that bone using freak he fought briefly. After that first check up at which point he was unconscious from exhaustion she had only visited two other times. One was when he woke up and that only lasted for about ten minutes while she did many different tests to see if he was ok. The other time was also just a checkup. You see she was the only one that was willing to work on him without a threat used. And if one was used than you couldn't guarantee that the 'friendly' doctor wouldn't try to hurt the weakened 'demon' of Konoha. So she was the only one that looked at him and took care of him while in the hospital.

Then there was Shizune, Tsunade's assistant and apprentice. She only came in the first day to see if he was ok or not. After that he hasn't seen her once, actually he didn't see her at all seeing as he was unconscious at the time, the only reason he even knew was because of Tsunade telling him such.

Then there was one of his sensei's, Jiraiya of the Sannin. He was the person that trained him when his other sensei refused to do so during the month break between the Chunnin finals. The only reason he visited was to check up on him and tell him that they were leaving the village for two and a half years for a training trip. When he thought about him being his sensei though he got irritated. It is true that he learned how to summon toads in that month break but he didn't do any actual training with him. He just had him sign the summoning contract and then told him to practice it. Then when he couldn't get it by himself with any help from him, he threw him off a cliff! Why, to forcefully draw out the Kyuubi's chakra from within him with a life and death situation. It worked needless to say, but it still wasn't right of him to put his life in danger like that.

Then when they went to find Tsunade to be the new Hokage, he taught him how to do the Rasengan. One of two jutsu's that made the fourth Hokage of the village hidden in the leafs, his village, famous throughout the world. He was grateful for the jutsu, but again all he did was teach him three of the necessary steps to doing the jutsu and left him to himself. If that was the type of training he would get from him on this training trip he was contemplating if he should even go or not.

Then there's the fact that he taught him the Rasengan and the summoning for toads. Those were both jutsu's the fourth used and was known for. Contrary to popular belief he was rather smart. He just hid behind a mask of idiocy. So why would a Sannin, one of three of the strongest people to ever come out of Konoha want to train him, an orphan? And why would he be teaching all these jutsu's that only the fourth and he could use? Something didn't add up but he just couldn't figure out what it was right now.

"Is there any one that actually cares about the real me and not my fake actions I show the villagers? I know Sasuke does but come on, is that the only person?!" Naruto asked himself in anger.

Speaking of his fake actions of idiocy, only two people in the entire village full of ninja of all ranks and powers had ever figured out that he wasn't a moron and only acted that way to survive. Really, was it that hard to figure out it was all an act? One was the third Hokage, the Sandaime, god of shinobi, or his Oji-san. (Old man) These were all titles he went by. He knew right away that he created fake actions and emotions not but two days after he created them. But for some reason he never mentioned it around him or even seemed concerned that he had put up fake emotions to get by in everyday life. He supposed the third thought it was to help him cope with all the hate he got in the village.

Whenever he was by himself or with just Sasuke he would act differently, it was subtle but there was definitely a difference in the way he acted around others and when he was by himself. For one he would never smile for no reason or show a goofy grin, and he would think things through slightly more instead of just blurting out the first thing that came to mind. If he had a chose he wouldn't wear all orange, the only reason he did was the stores charged him double or more for his clothing and it added to his show of idiocy. He was slightly smarter then he let on, he was no genius by any means but he could pass his test with at least average or slightly above scores. He stopped try to be good at the academy though after the first week of the first year. The first week he was in the top markers and then he went down to the bottom of the class from then on. It wasn't his fault though seeing as the teachers gave him different tests and altered books to learn from. It was at that time around his sixth birthday that he learned people would leave him alone more if he acted slightly different then he normally would. If he acted less smart and more impulsive people tended to ignore him more and take him less serious. If people took him less serious it allowed him to get away with more small things that would have caused more trouble than it was worth.

Besides Sarutobi the only other person to figure out the fake actions was the reason he was in the hospital. He didn't blame him for putting him in there though. He was the only one who knew the _real_ reason he left the village and it wasn't because he needed power or the fact he just couldn't take all the false praise he was getting from the stupid villagers, even though those did add some motive to leave. He wanted to be known as Sasuke and get credit for his own accomplishments, not for his last name and what his family did. Sasuke had his reasons, and it wasn't what most thought they were, in fact they were rather deeply rooted into the very foundation of Konoha and who ran the village whether it was in public or not.

He still remembered the day like it was yesterday. Naruto had just gotten out of the academy for the day and was running alone down the street laughing happily when Sasuke ran up to him and yelled for him to wait up. He really didn't know why he stopped but he did. It was a good thing he did to, as that was the start of a weird friendship that would bloom into something that later would become best friends and brothers. After stopping him, Sasuke asked something that startled him to the core. He asked why he acted the way he did around everyone else. He tried to cover it up with a nervous laugh but all he got was a pointed stare in return. After trying to avoid him by running away and that not working, he finally just told him in a voice filled with some hate and eyes that he was sure Sasuke remembered to this day.

His eyes were as cold as ice when he spoke, and his voice was no better. "To live in this… _village_… I have to be an idiot to survive…" He left the sentence hanging in the air and simply walked away. He remembers saying the word village with such distain that out of the corner of his eyes he saw Sasuke give a violent shiver. Since then he had always had a weird friendship with him. He knew there was a bond there though, and over the time they knew each other in the academy they slowly went from companions to friendship to best friends. This was all in secret of course as they couldn't be real friends to the public knowledge with him being the 'demon' and all and Sasuke their 'precious' last Uchiha.

Then there's his team, if you could call it that. Ever since graduating from the academy and becoming a genin of the village, everyone in the graduating class was put into a team of three new genin and one Jounin instructor. This wasn't too bad at first seeing as Sasuke, his secret best friend was in his team with another girl known as Sakura, his supposed crush that he has on her is a complete lie, just another part of his fake emotions and actions.

Who in their right mind would honestly like a girl that you can't even be around and not worry about being hit in the head for just talking to her? Honestly, whenever he even speaks to her she just says something along the lines of 'you're bugging me' and 'stop interrupting Sasuke and me.' How she thinks he could interrupt a one sided conversation between Sasuke and her was very confusion seeing as Sasuke never talked to her except for the few occasions when he told her she was alloying and to shut up. She has this huge crush on the boy even though he treats her like crap and then when he tries to talk to her she takes out her frustration on him. No he didn't like the pink haired girl one bit.

Then there's his supposed sensei, Hatake Kakashi. He would sooner call Jiraiya a sensei then that asshole. Why you might ask? That is quite simple. Hatake has been team sevens sensei for roughly six months now and he has only learned one thing from him in that entire time. How to climb a tree with only using your feet and chakra to stick to it. He learned from the others that graduated and became genin in their year that they learned how to do this exercise a week after they graduated. It took there sensei two months to teach it to them. Then after he does teach it to him, they learn nothing else from the man; well he personally didn't learn anything else that is. He knew for a fact as Sasuke told him so, that Hatake was teaching Sasuke in private. That pissed him off to no end; he was happy for his friend but still. Hatake's personal motto that he goes by is a contradiction to what he says and does.

He can still remember the exact words he used when he told them his motto. "Those who break the rules are trash, but those who leave there friends behind are worse than trash." If he truly believed in these words then he wouldn't play favorites with his students and treat his team like trash. Then there's the fact he is late every single day for two hours. In that two hours of waiting time they waste every day, they could be training or doing missions to earn some money as not all of them are financially stable like him. Sasuke had his family fortune, Kakashi had his money saved up from many missions and Sakura had her parents supporting her ass. He has to live by the money he gets from missions to get by every day. No he didn't like his team one bit.

Then there were his supposed friends or at least companions he thought he had in the village. There's all the rookie nine and then maybe team Gai, that he has gotten to know over the years. He thought they would have at least sent him something as a warming gift while he was in the hospital to say that they knew he was in there and to get well soon or something. But he hasn't even heard a peep out of them yet. Two weeks and not one single person of his supposed friends have come and seen him.

The longer he thought over these startling facts the more angry he got. He almost wished he would have gone with Sasuke but then again he wouldn't have gotten anywhere in the sound village. Not with Orochimaru fearing his influence on Sasuke and the curse seal. He knew he didn't want to stay in this village any longer either and if he tried to run he knew he would be captured within hours of his escape and executed for treason. So his only option was to leave the village with Jiraiya of the Sannin and hope he could get some descent training from the man and if not, then hopefully ditch him in some town and live somewhere far away from Konoha.

Having spent an hour thinking over possible plans for the future he turned over on his bed and feel asleep with a small smile of knowing he would be out of the village in a day's time. That day came too slowly for Naruto but he waited passionately for it to come. When his new sensei came to pick him up he said nothing to him but a small greeting and let's go already brat. As they were leaving the village gates he looked over his shoulder at the village he's lived in his entire life looking for any good byes from the people he knew. He could see no one anywhere. He wasn't surprised really and that just made his resolve to leave the village even higher than before. Walking slightly faster than before he walked past the casually paced man known as Jiraiya and hopped into the trees and ran as fast and far away as his small body would let him. Jiraiya followed right behind him yelling for him to slow down as they didn't need to rush but his pleas fell to deaf ears as Naruto ignored him and kept running into the unknown.

From her personal room in the top of the Hokage's tower, Tsunade once one of the Sannin and now the Hokage looked out the window at the specks that were Jiraiya and Naruto leaving the village in a hurry. She smiled sadly as they left her view and the village to travel around and train.

"Come back soon Naruto, the village needs you…" Although nobody heard her, the words seemed to drift into the air and out the window to be forever lost in time.

* * *

Author Notes:

Well there's the first chapter of my new story 'Shock of the Lightning.' I hope you enjoyed reading the thing and look forward to the upcoming chapters to come.

As some of you might have noticed, the beginning of the story, Sasuke and Naruto were fighting each other, was rather familiar looking. That's because I got the idea off another author's story. By _no_ means are they the same as his, _only_ the idea that Sasuke had rather good reasons to leave the village. After that it's completely my idea for the rest of the story… and as far as I know no one has done something like I plan to do. Since I did get the idea of Sasuke having good reasons to leave the village from another author I will give credit were it is due: Author: Self-Proclaimed KingofDDR, Story: Putting More Insight Into It.

That's about all I have to say right now. As in my other story if you have any questions or comments feel free to ask them in a review or personal message. Either works for me.

Review….

Battousai222


	2. Two And A Half Years

Well here's the new chapter. Sorry it took so long but I had to make sure I had the thing right, as this chapter is very important that I say the right thing and not imply something I don't want to.

Enjoy the new chapter!

Shock of the Lightning

Two And A Half Years

"Do you see that?"

"What are you talking about?" The person who just spoke turned to his long time friend and frowned in curiosity. He turned his head in the direction that his friend was squinting at and he himself squinted his eyes to get a better look into the distance. After a few short seconds of focus he could just make out two sellouts in the distance heading their way. Letting his senses travel through him he gauged their chakra levels to see how much of a threat they were to them. They couldn't be that much trouble seeing as they were walking calmly and right on the wide open path so they weren't trying to be sneaky which was a good sign they were at least friendly to the village.

After checking their chakra levels he let out a small breath of realization. His friend hearing this turned to him with a questioning glance. Seeing the look he elaborated. "They both have genin level chakra signatures and are no real threat to us, but be on guard none the less."

His friend nodded in understanding and stood slightly more alert in front of the gates of Konoha.

In no time at all the two guards at the gate could finally make out what the people were wearing and assess their threat level more accurately. The taller of the two was around six feet four inches, around fifty years old and had spiky white hair. He had a curious head band on that had the symbol for oil on it. His face had two red lines going down from each eye to his cheek bones. He was wearing a gray kimono with a red vest over that with fish net armor underneath it all. After their close observations they knew instantly that this man was Jiraiya of the Sannin. His chakra level signature was being suppressed most likely do to his skills.

After identifying the first one they turned to the other person. Walking at an even pace with Jiraiya was a man just under six feet tall. He had black shinobi pants with black boots. His upper torso was all black also. The distinct thing about his clothes though was all the red running around his body. As they kept walking closer they could finally see what those red lines were. At closer inspection they saw them to be red lightning bolts running across his entire black clothed body in a very fashionable and mysterious way. After inspecting his clothes better they looked at his face. His face was angular with perfection, the ladies killer if they ever saw one. Smooth skin untarnished with scars. His hair was vibrant blond with red streaks running through it. The hair was framing the sides of his face slightly and in the back went down to his middle neck. On his left leg they could make out a kunai pouch and on his back they could see a katana handle protruding from his back with a red hilt with the same red lightning running the handle. This guy was producing genin level chakra also, but he looked much more dangerous than any genin could look, and it was mysterious that his chakra level was the exact same level Jiraiya's was.

When they finally made it to the gate they both stopped in front of the guards waiting for them to open the gates and let them in. The two guards finally snapped out of it to do their respective jobs. Straightening up they addressed the two waiting men in front of them.

"State your name and reason for entry in Konoha please." The first guard asked with a guarded voice. He knew who one of these men was but the other was a complete mystery to him.

Jiraiya seemed to beam at the question asked and went into a weird dance that involved him doing silly poses and ended with him summoning a frog that he was standing on with yet another silly pose. This served two purposes for the guards. One it showed that Jiraiya was still very weird when he wanted to be and the other was it proved he was the toad Sannin as only him and Naruto could summon toads at this time.

After shaking their heads at the sad excuse for an introduction that was supposed to be 'cool' they greeted him in kind. "It's a pleasure to see you back after two and a half years Jiraiya-sama."

"You may enter the village." The other told him with a nod of the head. Jiraiya nodded back and proceeded into the village. They turned back to the other man to see he was still standing there like nothing had happened at all. Now that they thought about it silently in their head they didn't even see him blink the entire time Jiraiya was doing his weird introduction, he just stared right past them at some invisible entity in space and time.

"And who are you?" They asked the stranger. The new person continued to look off into space for a few seconds and just as they were about to ask if he heard him or not he turned his eyes to theirs. They were instantly on full alert. The eyes of the young man now that they could see him properly, as they noticed he couldn't be more than sixteen years old at the time, were sky blue emeralds in color. But that wasn't what got them on guard; it was the intensity of his eyes. They were eyes of a person that has killed many times before, cold, calculating eyes that sent shivers up peoples spines to even the most experienced of Chunnin's, as they were finding out just now.

After staring at them for no more than two seconds, he just started to walk by them. They could do nothing but follow his movements as they knew on an instinctual level, which comes from years of training, that if they moved in a treating way they would be dead in minutes or even seconds possibly.

Just as the young man was passing them and entering the village with now open gates, he spoke in a voice as chilling as ice.

"Uzumaki Raishin Naruto."

That was all he said as he passed. He didn't turn his head to address them when he passes; he just stared straight ahead the whole time and never broke his slow stride into the village.

By the time the guard's shook the chill from their bodies and turned to look at the person that left with the toad Sannin two and a half years ago to train, they noticed that they were both a good hundred feet into the village.

Turning to each other, they looked at the other to see if they heard correctly or not. They were both shaken by the way he addressed them with such cold indifference that they noticed the other guard had small beads of sweat on their forehead.

"Did he say Uzumaki Naruto?" One of them asked shakily.

The other could only nod in response, to shocked than scared to say anything.

"Wasn't he the load mouthed brat that left a few years back to train?"

Again all he got was a nod in return.

"…He's changed." That was a huge understatement.

"Changed! That is a complete one hundred and eighty degree personality change. The boy I remember was a cheerful genin. He had the title of the number one hipper active knuckleheaded prankster before. That man was a cold hardened Jounin if I ever saw one." The other finally responded in his shock.

"You really think he's Jounin level?"

The other just looked at him with disbelief. "You're kidding right?"

Seeing the look he was getting he saw he wasn't kidding. "No… a person with that sort of aura has to be at least high Chunnin if not even higher in skill."

The other saw no reason to argue with that fact as he could very well see that could be true.

As Naruto and Jiraiya walked down the road they took in the sights. Every which way they turned they could see that the village hadn't really changed that much from when they left. As they passed the concession stands people would greet Jiraiya with happy smiles and he would return them with an equal or even bigger smile. The people would just look weird at Naruto as if they didn't recognize him though.

That changed rather fast as a person came running up from behind them with a frantic look on his face from the same way they just came from and started to whisper to the civilians around him. The looks of the people they passed by changed in a heartbeat when they heard what the man said.

Both Jiraiya and Naruto ignored this though. That is until they couldn't ignore it any more when a person that was selling apples at a stand picked one up and threw it at Naruto from right in front of him while yelling two words.

"Demon scrum!"

Jiraiya looked at the man like he had a death wish, which he probably did, but he didn't try to stop him. He watched as the pitiful man in his early fifties threw the apple right passed him to the person walking just slightly behind him. He followed the path the apple took and saw it heading for the uncaring Naruto.

Just as it got within a foot of him Naruto swiped the apple from the air with his hand and crushed it with his bare hands like it was nothing. He never took his eyes off the path he was heading and never broke stride.

To everyone around them it just looked like the apple disappeared, but to the Chunnin and above in the crowd they knew better. Naruto moved to fast for the civilian's to see him, but they caught the movement he made with skilled ease.

Naruto kept walking like nothing happened, heading for the fool that was now on the ground with a yellow stain in his pants shaking in fear.

He was in that position because the second he caught the apple and destroyed it, he also sent a concentrated dose of killer intent at the man. He absentminded noticed that his wasn't the only one either. From what he could tell there were at least twelve other killer intents being directed at the man from the ninja in the area.

Feeling other ninja defending him caused him to glance around himself more fully. What he saw surprised him some. Besides the ninja hidden in the crowd or not so hidden in some cases, he also saw the civilians. That's what shocked him mildly. For they weren't glaring at him like they use to but instead was glaring at the man that threw the apple. The ones that weren't glaring at the man were sending apologetic glances his way and the others just looked on neutrally. Overall it was a major change from when he left the village to now. All this put together had the effect of scaring the man to the point of wetting himself and falling on his ass trying to get away by crawling on his hands and knees.

Naruto saw all this and his neutral expression never changed once the entire time while he kept walking like nothing happened. Just as he was about to pass the man up, he pushed his hand to the side and pointed two fingers at the scared man that was the universal hand sign for a jutsu. His left arm was extended with his pointer and middle finger outstretched at the cowering man.

Just then Jiraiya put a hand on his shoulder from behind as he stopped to see what he would do to the sad excuse for a man. Naruto turned his head slightly already knowing who it was that stopped him.

Jiraiya shook his head in the negative with a sad look in his eyes. Naruto just stared at the downed man for no more than a second before lowering his hand and continuing to walk ahead like nothing had happened at all after shaking off the hand with a small shrug of his shoulders.

Jiraiya could only watch his way ward student longingly and sigh in what many would think was frustration but was really grief.

Around half way to the Hokage tower they ran into some familiar people. Just as they were rounding the corner to go down another street Sarutobi Konohamaru and Haruno Sakura came around the corner and nearly bumped into them.

Naruto and Jiraiya didn't even move, flinch or make any reaction what so ever as they both knew they were right there around the corner heading the same way they were. So they weren't that surprised to see them.

The other two were another story though. They were startled and nearly bumped into the two people standing in front of them. They looked up after backing up a bit and looked at the two men. They both instantly knew who Jiraiya was as they've both seen him before and he hasn't changed that much over time.

The other man though they didn't recognize. He did look familiar too them both but it still escaped them.

Konohamaru was the first one to recognize him. With eyes widening slightly he tentatively asked the question on his mind. "I-Is that you Naruto-neesan?" (Big Brother)

Naruto just looked at him for a few seconds then nodded in the affirmative. "Hello Konohamaru." He may have greeted him but there was no enthusiasm in his voice present at all.

Said boy frowned at this but it was gone so fast most missed it. Shaking in excitement he launched into a million questions all of which were never answered because he was talking to fast and wouldn't give Naruto time to answer even if he wanted to.

Sakura frowned when she heard what Konohamaru said and took a closer look at the young man she admitted was hot.

'Let's see.' She thought. 'He has the same blond hair but with red streaks in it, same color eyes but … scarier.' She shivered involuntarily just looking into them.

'His whisker scar marks are gone though, that is a definite trait of Naruto. If this is him, then he has gotten a lot taller to… damn really tall. And he's not wearing that disgusting eye sour of orange he used to wear all the time. This Naruto wears all black with some red and damn he looks good in it.' She blushed at her own thoughts on this person, but then got suspicious; this couldn't be the idiot Naruto she knew.

"Are you really Naruto?" She asked incredulously. Naruto just glanced at her out of the corner of his eyes as he was facing Konohamaru, and turned his attention back to him.

Sakura bristled at being ignored. If this was Naruto then he definitely would never ignore her. He had a huge crush on her before he left the village. 'This can't be Naruto-baka. (Idiot) Who is this imposter?!' She raged inside her head.

She was brought out of her thoughts when the man imposing as Naruto and Jiraiya started to walk away.

Just then she remembered something Tsunade said to her that made her thoughts race. She remembered the words as if they were spoken to her that very same day. "Naruto left on a two and a half year training trip with Jiraiya of the Sannin. He won't be returning until then."

Eyes widening with realization she turned back to the present again. "Naruto, wait!" She yelled after him.

Said young man stopped walking but didn't turn around when he addressed her. "What is it you need Haruno?"

That one small sentence shocked her to the core. She just stood there rooted to the spot with a dumb look on her face while she had an inner conflict. 'He-he called me by my l-last name. Then he didn't add chan!?' She thought franticly.

She was brought out of her thought when she felt a pressure squeeze her shoulder. Looking up she saw it was Jiraiya that brought her back to reality this time and he was shaking his head from side to side telling her to leave it be.

Looking back to where Naruto used to stand she saw him already half way down the street walking away without so much as a hello to her after such a long time of being separated.

Looking up again with confusion and sadness clearly in her eyes she silently asked Jiraiya what was wrong with Naruto. Jiraiya understood this with ease. "I can't tell you anything Sakura, I'm sorry."

"But Jiraiya-sama…." She never got to finish as he just shook his head no again.

"I'm sorry but I truly can't tell you anything. I'll see you around." With that he followed Naruto down the street easily catching up with him at the walking pace they were going leaving a distressed girl to wonder what happened to her long lost friend.

"Come in." A strong women's voice commanded from inside the room.

As soon as the door opened Jiraiya knew who it was that sat in front of him behind a huge desk which was full of stacks of paperwork.

"Tsunade, long time no see!" The women in the desk looked up when she heard the voice she knew so well. She was a woman in her late fifties but a person looking at her would never know that because of the complex Genjutsu that hid her real figure. None the less she had blond hair through and through, with the largest chest anyone could ever see.

The instant she heard the voice she stopped what she was doing and looked up seeing her old team mate stand in the door way looking at her lecherously. She resisted the urge to get up and slam him through the wall like she normally would seeing as she was looking past him for what she really wanted to see.

When she couldn't find her objective she returned to her old team mate with a frown on her face. "Where's Naruto?" Was the first and only thing she asked, completely tossing the fact that she hasn't seen him for over two years out the window?

"Ah come on Tsunade, is that all you have to say to me after all this time?" He joked around knowing she only wanted to see Naruto right now.

Tsunade looked at him for all but two seconds before grounding out in a dangerously low voice. "Where-is-Naruto?"

"I'm right here Hokage-sama." A voice said coming in through the same door as Jiraiya just did and closing the door behind him.

Tsunade looked behind Jiraiya again and the second her eyes landed on his figure she let out a small gasp.

"I-is that you Naruto?" She stuttered out incredulously.

Naruto looked at her with a nod. "Hai Hokage-sama." He responded right away.

Frowning at the respectfulness she was getting she took in his entire appearance. She notices right away that the trip did some good for him as it got rid of that discussing orange outfit he used to wear. Now if she was honest with herself, she'd say he was a ladies killer if the slight muscle's she could see underneath the somewhat loose pants and shirt he was wearing now was any give away. She also noticed right away that his whisker marks were gone and then his eyes had changed.

Going lower she was just about to look and see what kinds of weapons he was hiding on him when she snapped her head back up to his eyes.

'Good Kami-sama (God) his eyes are as hard as steal and as cold as ice.' She noticed with a start.

Turning to Jiraiya to explain she caught his eye with a small glare and all he did was turn his head away with a grimace.

'That's not a good sign.' She thought absent mindedly while her smile turned into a frown.

"How was your training trip Naruto?"

Naruto looked her dead in the eyes with his ice bergs he called eyes now and she suppressed a shudder. "Eventful Hokage-sama."

She frowned even more at the honorific he added to her title. She didn't want him to even use her title as leader of the village let alone such an honorary title. "Naruto, please call me Tsunade."

"… As you wish Tsunade-sama." He replied in his chilling voice with very little emotion mixed in, but if you listened hard enough you could hear some warmness in it when he was speaking to her.

Her frown was etched into her face now as she stared him down trying to understand why he was so different now than when he left. When Naruto didn't break her eye contact for a good twenty seconds she decided it was a lost cause and took a closer look at his body again.

She saw the sword and assumed he knew how to use it properly, seeing as he was carrying it out in the open. She saw the two kunai pouches on both of his legs for his throwing weapons, and if she wasn't mistaken, she saw a scroll on his belt before it was blocked again by his cloak.

Moving along his body again she saw he was very well muscled now. She absent mindedly noted it was the same muscle mass as a high Jounin would have or even better. Then something caught her eye that made her do a double take.

There on his left hand, ring finger was a wedding ring of complete gold. Once she saw this she could do nothing but stare at it for several seconds with her brain trying to process the fact that Naruto must have been married when he was away. If she would have gotten a closer look at the ring she would have noticed a slight indent in the shape of a lightning bolt carving into it.

Shaking her head to clear her thoughts she looked back up into his eyes to see he never took his eyes off of her. It unnerved her somewhat to be stared at by those frosty eyes.

Turning around in her chair, because she couldn't take looking into his eyes any long and not cry, she addressed the young man that was now standing behind her back.

"You must have had a long trip back to Konoha and you're probably tired. You may leave Naruto." She said in a shaky voice.

Said person just looked at her for a few more seconds before turning on his heels and heading for the stopped as he opened the door and turned his head slightly in her direction so he could see her chair out of the corner of his eyes. "Tsunade-sama, if you wanted to know what happened all you had to do was ask." With that he walked out of the door and closed it behind him.

The second Tsunade heard him finish she swirled in her chair with unshed tears in the corner of his eyes searching for Naruto but he was already gone.

"Damn brat, but I can't really blame him." Jiraiya said sadly from the wall he was leaning against.

Tsunade noticed he was still in the room and quickly wiped her eyes of her tears. "What happened to him Jiraiya?"

Said man easily noticed the shaky voice she had and her trying to get rid of the tears. Sighing he pushed off the wall and moved over to a chair in front of her desk and sat down heavily.

"Do you have the silencing seals up?" Was the first thing he asked, much to her frustration. She frowned and pushed some chakra into the wall behind her and it glowed slightly indicating that the walls were sound proofed already. Not that the room needed it seeing as it was designed to be sound proof to begin with. Most of the time there was a vent open so the Anbu could hear if something was happening inside and needed to protect her, but that was shut already after a quick check.

Nodding after seeing that ever thing was in order she turned back to him expectantly. Seeing this he sighed one final time and sat up straighter. "What would you like to know first?"

Thinking for only a split second she went to her main concern. "I noticed he had a wedding ring on, if that is the case then he's married. Where's his wife for starters. After that, tell me everything that happened."

The second the word wedding ring was said Tsunade knew something bad had happened as she saw Jiraiya visually flinch and then slump in his chair.

Gathering his wits he started to explain what happened over the last two and a half years they were away from the village. "That's the main reason he's like the way he is…" He trailed off not sure how to go about explaining things without him getting thrown through the wall and a straight line trip to the hospital.

"Explain." Tsunade ground out in worry.

"Her name was Akara, they… they feel in love, and…" He just couldn't do it. He was choking on his own words.

Felling dread come to the surface of her thoughts Tsunade asked quietly for him to continue. "And…"

Looking more tired than she had seen him in sense fifteen years ago, when Orochimaru turned Nuke-Nin, he answered. "She died in a battle after them being married for little over five months."

Hearing a choked sob he looked up to see her staring at him with unshed tears in her eyes again with a pained expression on her face. "…How long did they know each other before that?" She asked dreading the answer she would get, but she needed to know.

"… A little over a year and seven months." That was all it took for Tsunade to stiffen like a board and feel the dread come to the surface full force.

"… I see." There was an uncomfortable silence that lasted well over a minute, until Tsunade shakily asked what she knew she would dread to hear.

"Can… no I need to know the whole story Jiraiya." She said resolutely knowing it would be a sad story to hear, especially after what she just found out. She thought of Naruto as a sort of little brother at times, and to know he went through such a sad thing after his already crappy life in the village made her feel untold sadness for him.

"Hai… I know." He started with a shaky breath. Gathering his wits he looked up ready to explain the whole thing. "Try not to interrupt unless you have to, O.K?"

She could only nod as he got ready. "After we left the village Naruto was… different, I guess would be the best word to describe it. He was no longer the hyperactive brat we once knew. He was in a word… colder. He refused to even think about Konoha or anything to do with his former team. I tried to talk to him on many occasions to get him to cheer up, as I thought he was still disappointed about losing to Sasuke and letting him escape."

"It turned out that every time I even mentioned Konoha or his former team he would just turn silent and plain out ignore me for the rest of the day. The only thing I got out of him was the fact that he still thought of Sasuke as a brother. He would still take instructions when it came for training but besides that he acted like he didn't hear me. So I let the subject drop after the first few days. Then by the time the first week ended I was starting to get worried. He would do nonstop training every single day. It didn't matter what I told him, he would train for a minimum of ten hours a day. But more than likely he would train for the entire day nonstop no matter how bad for his body that was. He would only eat his three meals a day and sleep for eight hours then train again every waking second."

"I figured maybe I could get him to stop the absurd training he was putting himself through if maybe I advanced his training ahead of time to when I planned to teach him how to control the Kyuubi's chakra. I'll never forget the look he gave me that day. It was of pure loathing and hate. He absolutely refused to use the Kyuubi's chakra, even to summon, though he knew he couldn't summon Gamabunta without the fox's chakra, he still refused to ever use its chakra again. He told me he would rather die than rely on the damned fox. After a lot of pushing and still he wouldn't budge, I gave up on that too and started working on his chakra control and taijutsu."

"This is how his training continued for two whole months. By this time we had managed to move to our first stop which was lightning country. When we got there we stopped for camp and Naruto continued to do his intense training regimen that he refused to lower by any means. At this time I was really starting to worry about the boy. He was draining himself both mentally and physically doing what he was doing. When we stopped in the camp… that is where everything changed for us." He stopped here to collect his thoughts and as he was doing so he noticed he had Tsunade's complete attention.

"It was around two O'clock in the afternoon when we started to hear explosions and fighting on a small scale. After twenty minutes of hearing this and it only getting louder we went to investigate what the noise was. When we got there we saw a young girl of thirteen years of age, the same age as Naruto was at that time, training will a sword and lightning manipulation. I instantly knew this was either a cloud ninja or one of its clans that surround the area."

"When we entered the training field she stopped training and asked who we were. We told her and we learned she wasn't a ninja but a samurai in training from outside the cloud village. After our small introductions we left but Naruto couldn't resist and returned to watch. Eventually she asked him what he was doing and he just told her he was fascinated on how she could control lightning. I can tell you this right now, her clan can control lightning with ease, if any one of their clans men were to challenge another lightning user they would easily win in skill."

This little fact startled her. That much control of lightning was impressive for anyone, as lightning and wind elemental manipulation were the hardest element to control.

"I can see you understand the implications of that little fact. Yes they were masters in the art of lightning manipulation. Anyways, Naruto was fascinated by the way she could control lightning, and after the third day of watching her train, I still don't know why she kept coming back to the clearing, seeing as we were still there watching her, she offered to give Naruto some tips on the skills she knew. I could tell if she were a ninja that she would be easily high Chunnin in skill so I encouraged Naruto to go train with her. She was all samurai at this point, but with some major skills that could easily match a ninja's. It also helped Naruto as he didn't focus so much on what happened before we left and he started to really take his training in the right direction instead of just hurting himself like he was before."

"It goes without saying that this started something that no one would have seen coming. After that day Naruto still trained until he dropped but at least now he was training in something useful instead of just his physical health. I spied on them a couple of times but I mostly left them alone to train while I did other things…" He trailed off lamely looking up expecting to get yelled at, but all he got was a mild glare and a gesture to continue the story. He sighed in relief for her wanting to know as much as she could about the trip before she killed him. He winced in phantom pain at what was sure to come later on, but he continued none the less.

"Every day he would go to that clearing to see if she was there or not. When she was he would stay with her and train every day none stop, only stopping when she got hungry and then they would go get something in a nearby town or catch their own food. When she wasn't there, which was only twice a week, Naruto would train with me. I mostly worked on his chakra control and a few lower level jutsu's. He wasn't very happy about that either."

"That's beside the point though. After a month of this continuing, Naruto was finally showing some aptitude at lightning manipulation. He could make a spark on his hand and hold it for a few minutes. It was nothing compared to her control, but it was still impressive for a beginner. That's when things started to change for Naruto. He really started to spend time with Akara, for real though. It wasn't just training like before. They started to actually talk about other things besides jutsu's and fighting. They started to fall for each other in a way. When that month finally passed Akara made an offer for Naruto."

"She asked him if he wanted to come back to her clan house. I didn't find out about this until the next day afternoon. When they went to her clan house she offered him the opportunity to learn their clan's secret techniques and styles. I was shocked to hear of this, as I'm sure you are yourself. No clan in their right mind would willingly give away their secrets, but it turned out Akara was the clan heads daughter and she personally requested Naruto be allowed this opportunity. They later made some sort of deal that I have no idea about to this day, but they allowed him to learn their secrets after this."

"That same day, they made some sort of blood contract to seal the deal. After doing this, they took Naruto to have his chakra changed. I don't know how they were able to do it, but they managed to change his nature manipulation. After we initially left the village, I had Naruto tested on his elemental nature, it was wind. This alone shocked me later on, by the fact he was able to do even a small amount of lightning manipulation, seeing as wind and lightning are complete opposites. Somehow they were able to change his natural affinity for wind and turn it into lightning. I have absolutely no idea how they did this, but they did it successfully. This ritually they used had some side effects though."

"What sort of side effects?" Tsunade questioned after a lengthy pause.

Jiraiya seemed to come out of his haze and continued with a shake of his head. "Right, besides the obvious lightning manipulation being his main element now, it also increased his normal chakra reserves by at least two fold. I learned later after I looked him over in his sleep for any side effects of the ritual, that a part of the seal holding Kyuubi at bay was broken."

Tsunade let out a gasp but Jiraiya just waved her off before she could even say anything. "The Kyuubi is still completely locked away and has no chance of escaping, so there is no need to worry. Besides, the side effect was a benefit to Naruto not a hindrance. It gave Naruto twice the amount of chakra by converting Kyuubi's chakra into his own somehow, and it also heightened his senses. The ones it affected were his sight and hearing. His sight changed so he can see everything in the night like it was the day, and his hearing increased by double. His hearing is now on par with any Inuzuka in the village. Now if you didn't know already, when we left Naruto's chakra reserves were already mid Jounin level. Well after the increase his levels shot up low to mid Sannin level. This also had the side effect of making his already horrid chakra control even more horrendous then it already was. I personally believe that it would have been better if that little part never happened, seeing as it made his training harder than it should have been for a while. It was more of a set back then anything."

"When I came looking for Naruto the next day because he didn't come back to camp like he sometimes does, I found him laying in the field looking exhausted with Akara sitting not five feet away from him. Before you even ask why I didn't look for him before that time is simple, he didn't always come back to camp every day. Sometimes he would train through the night even if I told him to stop, and others times he would just sleep in that clearing. Anyways when I saw Naruto looked exhausted I went and checked him out. The first thing I noticed was his hair. As you might have seen when he was in here, he has a few strands of red hair now. That was a side effect of the Kyuubi's chakra mixing with his own, along with the other side effects I already told you about. I just learned about those later on. At that present time though, I questioned both of them extensively and learned about what had happened. They refused to elaborate further unfortunately and I wasn't going to interrogate a little girl that helped get my apprentice into a clan full of powerful people to train him."

"So after I learned everything I could from them I asked what they planned to do from then on. Naruto immediately answer that he was staying there. I looked into his eyes and those eyes had absolute resolve in them. They were eyes of a man that made his decision and wouldn't back down no matter what. I really couldn't argue at that point any ways. The contract they made, forced Naruto to stay with them for at least a year's time. I learned this little fact when I went to talk to the clan leader."

"This being said I immediately wanted to talk with the clan head and that is exactly what I did. That same day I went and talked to him after being led to him by Akara and Naruto. I learned that to do the ritual to get lightning manipulation as your main element you had to force it out of your body and then accept a blood oath with the clan head. Naruto did all of this and by doing this he was unofficially merged into the clan as some sort of lesser clansmen. This didn't deter Naruto though, if anything it made him more resolved to be the best he could be and he strived to be the strongest and most skilled in the entire clan. After a lengthy talk with the leader of the clan, we came up with a compromise."

"He wouldn't let me stay in the clan compound as he didn't want their secrets getting out, but he would allow me to visit every month if I wanted. I grudgingly accepted, not that I had any chose in the matter though. So after saying my good bye to Naruto and giving him a dozen or so scrolls on different training techniques and Justus's I left the compound, and headed out to do my secondary objective and gain some information on Akatsuki."

"During this time I was able to gather very little sadly. Their group is composed of all S-rank missing Nins of the top caliber. The leader I have no idea on who it is, but he has to be strong to be able to control and command other S-rank ninja's so well. As you already know Uchiha Itachi is one of said members. Then there's Hoshigaki Kisame from mist village. The only other person I have been able to get information on is Deidara of rock. He made a mistake and was seen with the black cloak with red clouds on it. Sadly that is all I've been able to gather."

Tsunade could only stare at him the entire time through his explanation of what has happened the last two and a half years. She was far more interested in what happened to Naruto, but the information on Akatsuki was a nice bit of information none the less. "Thank you Jiraiya, but please get back to Naruto. From what I gather you stopped just after the three month mark, you still have two and a quarter years to explain."

Jiraiya could only nod at her no silliness voice. "As you wish Hokage-sama. Besides my gathering of information on Akatsuki, I also made it a mission to visit Naruto as often as I could. Since I was only allowed onto the compound once every month I visited every month if I could. Sadly that didn't work out two of the times and I was held up for two months both those times. But when I did visit him I observed his daily training and his interactions with those of the clan. I was honestly surprised to see that Naruto and Akara hooked up together after I left the first time. From what I could gather they started dating and being an official couple a week after I left."

"His training was also spectacular. He was of course learning how to better manipulate his lightning chakra and I have to say, he was doing an amazing job. Just from the few hours I visited each time I was there, his control only got better and better each time. By the time three months had passed I would say that he was at a master lightning manipulators level."

Tsunade's eyes widened considerably at hearing this. Jiraiya caught this look and smiled a proud smile. "I know its amazing isn't it. A person usually takes at least a year to get up to that level, but he did it in three months, the boy is just amazing like that when he puts his mind to it…"

He trailed off slightly before a huge grin appeared on his face. "Now I know this will freak you out. When I visited on that third month, I was shocked also. When I was watching him train in cover I was spotted by the clan head that was also watching and he motioned for me to come over. I did and what a shock it was to hear that Naruto was only at the beginning level of his lightning manipulation. I questioned him about this and all he did to demonstrate was point his pointer and middle finger off to the side. The next moment there was a massive chakra spike from him and a bolt of lightning came out of his finger tips and traveled right through a tree he was pointing at and continued into the sky until it dissipated."

Jiraiya was so into his story that he didn't see the wide eyed Tsunade staring at him with her mouth slightly open gaping at him. "Let me tell you that scared the shit out of me and got the rest of the people's attention around us. That's when Naruto spotted me and we started to talk. After seeing the amazing display of power from the clan head, I wanted to see what Naruto could do. He refused to fight me personally, but he told me a little about what he learned. He couldn't go into detail because the clan head refused him the right to talk about it but he told me some of his skills."

"Every time I visited I would always leave him some more scrolls and he told me each time that he was able to master most of the ones I left him before. But that wasn't the skills I wanted to hear about. I wanted to learn about the ones he learned from the clan. He reluctantly told me what he learned. Can you believe it, Naruto actually reluctant to brag? At that moment I knew I made the right chose to leave him there. He was maturing amazingly fast and growing stronger and stronger each time I saw him."

"After some nagging I was able to gleam from him that he was currently learning how to handle a sword and further his already impressive lightning manipulation chakra. To say I was proud of him would be an understatement. I knew just by being around him that he was indeed learning fast. He was able to at that point suppress his chakra to a point where it only felt like high Jounin. That's rather impressive seeing as he had Kage level chakra reserves at that time."

"After I left that day I was more than confident that Naruto would develop into a fine man. He was even showing signs of being polite to authority figures and turning more normal and cool headed to what he used to be like. He also lost all dark thoughts about the Sasuke retrieval mission. He seemed to have even forgotten it or gotten over it completely. He was turning into an amazing ninja and swordsman."

"This way of life for Naruto and me continued for another eleven months until I got a summoning by frog. I knew instantly that it had to be from Naruto, as he's the only other person alive with the contract with frogs out there. With the frog came an envelope addressed to me by Naruto. When I opened it I got the surprise of my life when it turned out to be a wedding invitation to his and Akara's wedding. Of course I immediately went back to their clan compound to attend the wedding as that is where it was said to be. I arrived four days early."

"When I went to talk to Naruto I was surprised to see him the happiest I've ever seen him in my life. He was just glowing in the happiness. That also could have been the radiant smile coming from his equally happy fiancé that was hanging off his arm. That same day I saw them kiss and, wow what a kiss that was. There was such… I still don't know how to describe it right. It just seemed like they were meant for each other. I couldn't even force myself to start writing in my note book like I usually do. It just seemed so… right." Jiraiya sighed sadly as he took a big gulp of air before continuing.

"Three days later, the entire clan was ready to leave. This confused me but Naruto explained that they were having the wedding about twenty miles away. When we arrived we set up camp in the middle of a forest. I asked Naruto why we stopped here but he just shooed me away and told me it was a secret and I'd find out the next day. I went to bed that day dejectedly but was woken up early the next day before the sun could even arise."

"I asked why they would get up so early, and they told me the wedding was going to start in less than two hours. I rushed to get ready and found out that everyone was being woken up all around me. The entire clan was there except for about ten people. The entire clan consists of around three hundred people in total. So it was rather busy. They were all prepared it seemed and I was the only one that was left out of the loop on the wedding so I just stuck to myself most of the time. That's when Naruto approached me and asked me to be his best man. I accepted graciously of course. That's when I noticed what he was wearing. He was wearing a black suite that was customary for all weddings, but the thing that caught my eye would have to be the black cloak he was wearing with the red lightning bolts running all over it. That was the same cloak he was wearing when he came in here with some minor adjustments so it would be stronger and be able to repair itself."

"He led me out of the clearing and we walked for about twenty minutes, of which time he refused to answer any and all questions I had. When we finally came out of the trees and off the path we were walking, I felt my breath catch in my throat. We were in the most beautiful place I had ever seen in my life. It was still dark but the moon provided enough light for me to see its beauty. We were standing on a cliff overlooking a water fall with an amazing tree line in the background. Naruto told me that this was where they were having their wedding and that they were to wait until everyone arrived to start."

"Not ten minutes later, we were surrounded by the entire clan and waiting for the bride to come. I got a surprise when three people came out of the crowd carrying different instruments, one was the harp, another was a flute, and the other one was a violin. They started to play the 'here comes the bride' chorus song that sounded beautiful. They must have done some kind of jutsu on them because each instrument was playing much louder than it should have been. At this point the sun was just starting to rise and it was the perfect setting for any dream wedding."

"That's when the bride came down the isle of people. Akara was just radiating beautiful, there was just no other word for it. The wedding went as any other normal one would and they were married under the rising sun. When they kissed I could have sworn the sun shinned on just them for a few seconds, but it went by so fast it could have been my imagination. At that point in time they were announced husband and wife, with her name changing from Raishin Akara, to Uzumaki Raishin Akara, and Naruto's being changed to Uzumaki Raishin Naruto. They had to have Raishin in their name because clan law states if they knew the clan techniques, they needed their clan name. That was a perfect moment and the party afterwards was amazing to."

"They were both given three days for their honeymoon and Naruto told me straight out that if they were in any of my books, he would personally castrate me. The amount of killer intent he used was unreal, and I was actually convinced not to spy on them much to my disappointment. Especially seeing as when they returned to the compound she had a noticeable limp in her step. And that was three days after the wedding, so they must have been at it a lot. I lost so much glorious material there; I still can't believe I listened to the brat." Jiraiya was brought out of his mumbling when he felt killer intent being directed at him from the front. He looked up and paled seeing her crack her knuckles threatingly.

"You know you lucky you didn't spy on them right?" She asked in a sickly sweat voice that sent shivers down his spine. He could only nod as he subconsciously closed his legs so his equipment was well protected from her wrath.

"I'm glad you understand my thoughts on that matter. You're also lucky I need you to finish the tale otherwise you'd be in a world of pain right now." She threatened.

Jiraiya could only nod his head shakily and continued on. "Well… after the wedding and the honeymoon they came back to the compound and I learned that Naruto was officially a clansman and that sooner or later him and Akara would be clan heads. You remember that cloak I was talking about earlier; well that cloak represents him being a future clan head of the Raishin. With him finally being a part of the clan and having the position of future clan head, he was required to finish his training and learn their most powerful attacks."

"At this point I was requested to leave again and come back every month if I wanted to. After saying my blessings to the new married couple I left leaving some more scrolls for Naruto to master like usual. Things went like usual with the only exception being that Naruto and Akara were always together when I visited, and Naruto was teaching Akara how to be more like a ninja. I'll let you know, she was a fast learner and adapted amazingly fast, almost as fast as Naruto does to learning new things."

"Five months passed like this in a happy way. That is until the clan head decided to send Naruto, Akara, and twenty guards to wave country to try and make a deal with them of some kind. I have no idea what the full details were on the deal, but I managed to find out they wanted to get food and supplies from them instead of cloud country like they used to."

"Just as they were nearing the 'Great Naruto bridge' things turned for the worst. Now let me tell you this first, I didn't learn about any of this until a month after it happened. I had just left Naruto at the compound when that same day the clan head told him that he had this mission. From what I gathered, he thought since Naruto helped the country out before, sending him out with the other negotiators would make the deal a no go. He was quite right by the way, but things never even got that far."

"Just when they were a hundred feet from the bridge, they were ambushed by Iwa and Sound ninja. Since I wasn't there I don't know the exact details, but I managed to gather a rather good description of what happened that day from the villagers of wave, and the clansmen that survived the battle held there."

Tsunade sat straighter in her chair at hearing this news. She remembered reading a report about something happening near wave around this time but couldn't think of what exactly happened off the top of her mind. She was brought out of her thoughts when Jiraiya explained further.

"From what I understand the Iwa and Sound Ninja attacked without warning managing to kill five of their group straight off the bat, and injuring two others. The other, including Naruto and Akara were skilled enough to get out of the way of the initial attack. From there an all out battle proceeded. They were greatly outnumbered from the beginning, with only twenty-two people on their side and around a hundred Iwa and Sound Nin on the other side. It goes without saying that they were in trouble, and it showed when the enemy ninja managed to kill another ten of the Raishin clan. Leaving Naruto, Akara, and five heavily injured others left to pick off."

"At this point the enemy ninja noticed that Naruto and Akara were covering each other's backs perfectly and none of their attacks were getting through. They somehow managed to separate them and five went after Naruto while the rest of them went after Akara. It was at this point of the story that I realized, just as you must have that their objective was to get to Akara."

Tsunade could only nod in return already seeing where the story was going but urging Jiraiya to continue with a frown.

He only nodded back before continuing. "Once Naruto was able to defeat, and by defeat I mean kill, he has no illusions about what being a ninja is anymore, and will kill without mercy now, he turned his attention back to his wife. By that time though, it was already too late for her, she had been stabbed with a kunai and a rock spear jutsu and she laid motionless on the ground but not before managing to kill off ten of them first..."

Jiraiya's eyes took a darker shade of color when he continued. "After seeing Akara down, Naruto rushed to her side killing everyone in his way, but the others moved out of his way and started to retreat seeing as their mission was over with. They must not have had orders to kill anyone else unless they interfered. When Naruto got to her side he fell to his knees and tried to wake her up, but she didn't move. He was desperate is my guess, because he tried to pump chakra into her body but it did nothing, it was too late, she was dead."

Jiraiya clenched his fists until they were white and shaking in anger, Tsunade could only look on while a feeling of dread overtook her. "She was killed in cold blood. If I was there I would have massacred the lot of them without a second thought for destroying their perfect loving relationship. Luckily for me though, I didn't have to be there for that to happen. When Naruto finally understood she was dead… I don't know something must have snapped in him."

"He started to shake uncontrollably from all the emotions he was feeling and one of the assholes that killed her had the nerve to stay and see how he would react to her death and laughed at him for his loss. He was beheaded before any of the ones that stayed to watch could even move to defend themselves. After his head hit the ground there was no sound what so ever. The villagers I talked to told me it was like the eye before the storm. There was no wind, to sounds of people moving, not even the animals seemed to move. From what they said Naruto stood their shaking uncontrollably with his head hung low so no one could see his face. He had his bloody sword in his right hand, holding it limply."

"When he finally looked up the people I talk to said that a force of some kind descended upon them like a hurricane. They felt their bodies start to shake in fear and sweat uncontrollably. It's my guess that Naruto unleashed a massive load of killer intent to cause a mass effect like that. When he looked up he stared straight at his first victim. He charged at them and after that he killed every enemy ninja in the area, which were around thirty people left. I'm sure you know the name this event was called?" Jiraiya asked looking at her.

He could see she understood what was reported to her now. "The Massacre of Wave." She mumbled just loud enough for Jiraiya to hear her.

Said man nodded grimly but with a small smile on his face. "Hai, 'The Massacre of Waves' is indeed what that incident was called and that is also the reason Naruto is wanted in both Iwa and Sound countries with an S-rank bounty on his head. They only have a description of him, not a name, but my guess is that sooner or later they'll find out who he is. After he killed everyone in the immediate area he proceeded into the forest where the rest of the ninja retreated to. The town's people never saw what happened in the forest but they could hear screams coming from within and later found around thirty bodies scattered around the area in various ways of death."

"After it got quite again Naruto came out of the forest with a murderous glint in his eyes and he was covered in blood, both in body and sword. When he saw Akara though, that glint subsided into something the villagers couldn't really register, but my best guess would say it was a copious amount of sadness and regret for not protecting her. After staring at her body for a couple seconds they saw him pick her up as gently as possible and proceeded back into the forest, but when the two remaining clansmen that survived went to follow him, they were shot a murderous glare and stayed put."

"He came back around thirty minutes later with a new set of clothes on and all the blood gone from his body. That's not important though, the important thing is that he was caring Akara's body in his arms but this time there was no kunai and rock spear imbedded in her body. She was wearing a new set of clothes and was looking like nothing had ever happened except for the fact she was laying limp in his arms. With only a nod of his head they proceeded out of there and back to the clan compound. I later learned that they spent the entire five day trip in complete silence with Naruto never leaving her side once, and he was always the one to carry her."

"When they got back it was with a heavy heart that the two clansmen told the rest of them what happened. Naruto just brushed past them all and went to his and Akara's room and didn't come out until the next day when the funeral was held. I learned when I came by the next time, which was a month after it happened, that Naruto cried for the first time in over eight years. I knew this because the Sandaime told me he hasn't cried since he was six."

"When I arrived I went to talk to Naruto and Akara and see how things were with them, but when I found him, he just looked at me with steal cold eyes and walked right past me. I called out to him but he never stopped walking. I went to talk to the clan head and learned of the entire ordeal. I was shocked into silence for a good few minutes, but I eventually came out of it and asked how Naruto has dealt with it."

"He told me Naruto's training regiment increased by at least double and no matter what they did to try to talk him out of his insane training, he wouldn't listen. He reverted back to the way he was before he met Akara, but this time his attitude was absolutely cold and merciless to others."

"When I went to confront him again, and talk to him about leaving and training with me, he downright refused me, and told me he would finish his training until he mastered everything they had to offer him. Then and only then would he leave the clan and go with him. I didn't argue with him about this fact, especially when he said it would be what Akara would want him to do."

The office was eerily silent after Jiraiya finished his heart wrenching tale. Both of them were thinking about their favorite blond that had so much taken from him in his relatively short life and the amount of pain he has had to go through. "I-is that everything Jiraiya? You still haven't told me when you two got back together and did some of your own training?" She questioned sadly.

Jiraiya looked up and flinched slightly. "Unfortunately… no that isn't everything that happened." By the tone of his voice Tsunade just knew this was more bad news.

"I need to know everything Jiraiya… please continue." She said softly.

Jiraiya gulped and nodded his head dejectedly. "After the…. Incident… I knew Naruto wouldn't listen to me no matter what I said, so I left him with twenty different scrolls on some B to A rank Justus's to train in. I was hoping they would help distract him from what happened. I left after that and didn't return for a good month like always. When I did return Naruto was still cold to everyone, but this time he would at least talk to me. He would give nothing away on his skills he learned from the Raishin clan but he told me he learned eleven of the Justus's I gave him, the others he was still working on. I left after a rather one sided conversation. The only useful thing I learned from him and his clansmen was that Naruto's training was going at a startling fast rate and he was learning everything the clan had to offer. They said in another couple months, he would know every technique the clan knew and would only have to master them."

"This continued for the next six months without much change happening. I would visit and learn a little more about Naruto's skills but I would never learn everything. Then I would give him some scrolls to learn from and leave him be at his request."

"This all changed though when I was in Suna getting a possible lead on Akatsuki. When I arrived there I went to one of my informants and asked for any important information. I was expecting something on Akatsuki but when he told me something different it surprised me. It scared the hell out of me though when he finished talking. I nearly scared the poor guy to death when I slammed him against the wall and demanded if he knew it was true. He managed to stutter out that it was before I dropped him on the ground and ran as fast as I could out of the country and towards cloud..."

"What did he tell you?" Tsunade asked irritated that he kept dancing around the facts.

Said man looked down and mumbled something that she couldn't hear and she asked him to repeat it. "He said that the Raishin clan in cloud country was going to be attacked by both the Sound and Iwa forces at midnight that day."

Tsunade's breath caught in her throat and a shocked look crossed her face. "T-the entire clan was attacked?!"

"Hai… When I heard the message from my informant I ran as fast as I could towards cloud country but I knew I'd be to late by at least a couple days time even at my fastest pace with no sleep what so ever. I started to panic when it turned into night and then I thought of something that could help me get there faster. I summoned Gamabunta, he tried arguing with me but just my glare and a short explanation of what was happening had him hoping as fast as he could towards cloud."

"Even still, I didn't make it there until around eight in the morning the next day. Gamabunta immediately left seeing as he was exhausted but I kept going into the forest that I knew the clan compound to reside in. When I got there… I … I…"

Tsunade could see the pained expression on his face and urged him to continue.

After taking a shaky breath he explained further. "When I reach the clan compound I knew I was entirely too late. There were no chakra signatures around what so ever. That meant only one of two things, they were either all dead, or they escaped before the attack. I prayed it was the later but it wasn't. When I passed through the tree line and into the open field where the compound was, I found the outer walls to be destroyed. I rushed inside and immediately knew I was too late. There were bodies littering the floor everywhere. Both Raishin clansmen and enemy ninja. I searched for a good twenty minutes for survivors before I found him."

His voice trailed off again before he took a couple of deep breaths to calm his trembling hands and voice. "I found Naruto. He was impaled to a wall through the gut using a sword."

Tsunade's eyes stretched out to dangerous proportions but before she could say anything Jiraiya continued. "I of course went and checked to see if he was alive, and found he was barely clinging to life. He had the obvious stomach wound, multiple scratches and cuts, one broken rib, and a fractured leg joint. After assessing his wounds I took him off the sword as gently as I could, and healed him to the best of my abilities. Even with Kyuubi's healing factor to help him out, it still took a full four days to heal and close over spotless. Even so, he didn't wake up for a good week and a half. He was in the hospital in cloud country for that time period. I put a high level Genjutsu on myself to hide my identity and Naruto changed so much by that time that no one would recognize him any ways. Also, it wasn't a ninja hospital so he didn't need a Genjutsu so hide, but I didn't want to risk anyone knowing who he was regardless. So I had to put him under a Genjutsu to change his hair and eye color just to make sure. I'm not sure if any ninja ever went to the clan compound from cloud country, but I'm sure they did."

"During this time I helped burn everyone that was killed during the attack, as that was their clan's burial ritual. I had to act as one of their citizens as the place was covered with cloud ninja. We didn't dig a grave, but burned the bodies and then we put up some tomb stones or plates in their honor, we did that for everyone. After getting all the bodies out we looked through the place to see if there were any technique scrolls, but all of them were either destroyed or taken during the attack. After that I went around and asked if anyone knew anything about the attack. I learned that there was a rather large force of Iwa and Sound Nin's around that day of attack. They never crossed the border though from what the guards could gather. But when we looked through the bodies there were multiple dead Sound and Iwa Nin's around, though none of them had any way to affiliate them with their villages."

"Cloud still doesn't know how such a big force of ninja could get into the country without being seen or heard and then attack an entire clan but they did. It didn't help that the clan compound was a good forty miles away from the village, as they liked to separate themselves from the ninja. We know for a fact it was Iwa and Sound that attacked the village though. We don't have any proof but the attack damage left is enough. There were multiple rock Justus's used and some of the bodies had ruptured ears. That and the fact that there were fang marks on some of the bodies with snake venom in there system it proves that they were there. It also shows that Orochimaru personally decided to help in the attack as only three people can summon snakes. Orochimaru himself, Anko, and then possibly Sasuke. We know its Orochimaru because there was his swords poison in some people's systems."

"After I knew what happened I stayed with Naruto the entire time in the hospital. When he woke up a week and a half later he just stared at the ceiling and no matter what I would do he wouldn't respond. I was afraid this had finally broken him, but he eventually responded. He told me he would personally kill Orochimaru himself and any Sound and Iwa Ninja he came across he would kill without question. After that he refused to talk again about the subject, but told me he was ready to travel with me now."

"The same day he woke up, he left the hospital much to the nurse's frustrations mind you." He said quickly seeing the glare sent his way for letting Naruto leave the hospital after such an attack.

"Besides, he was perfectly healthy now, well besides the mental trauma, but he wouldn't let that show. After paying our respects at the compound we left the country to do some traveling and more training. No matter how I approached the subject on the attack on the compound, Naruto would always give me the cold shoulder or he would just glare at me until I dropped it. Eventually he relented after enough bugging and told me a very brief explanation of the events."

"He told me the clan was attacked at exactly midnight and since most of the people were asleep they were killed rather fast. Then came some enormous snakes that started to attack everyone in the clan. They were able to destroy the summoned snakes but they did major damage. By that time half the clan was wiped out and the rest were soon to follow. Naruto himself told me he was the last one standing and he saw everyone die and that's when he was over whelmed and taken out. He was stabbed through the gut by none other than Orochimaru and pinned to the wall. After that he stopped talking and I couldn't get anything out of him again for the next five months about the attack on his clan."

"…I see, I almost don't want to ask but I have to know what happened over the next five months." She winced just thinking about the possibilities.

Jiraiya gave her a reassuring smile, even though it was by no means what a smile should look like. It was more like a twitch of the lips that didn't go down. "Nothing bad happened for those five months I was with him if that's what you're thinking about."

This reasoned to lower her dreading thought down fortunately.

Seeing this look he continued. "Over the next five months I trained Naruto in different Justus's I knew and assessed his skills. He still trained like mad, but he never seemed to go all out it seemed. He was holding back for some reason, and when I asked him why he would just look at me and shrug before telling me a ninja never reveals all his secrets. I wanted to know what level he was at, so I challenged him to a few fights setting different rules each time."

"What are his skills Jiraiya? I need to know so I can give him a test to see if he deserves a higher rank than genin." Tsunade immediately asked once she heard Jiraiya say he tested his skills.

"I can assure you, he is well past any genin rank, let alone his maturity is that of an Anbu Captain. I assessed that all of his skills are at least low Jounin level if not higher. He refused to use anything that he learned in his training with the Raishin clan, preferring to keep it a secret. So he didn't use any lightning Justus's that I know he has in his arsenal. He would use his sword though, which I can tell you right now, is unrivaled by any I have met. The skill he shows with a sword is off the charts; even Hayate Gekkou, the guy that was attacked during the Chunnin exams Naruto was in and survived the attack he was in, even though he didn't wake up until after the invasion happened."

"His skills are superior to Hayate's by far when it comes to using a sword, and probably everything else to. Let alone the attacks he mostly likely knows using a sword that he never showed in our fights. Whenever he drew his sword he would never use any attack in conjuncture even though I know there are some. Even still he is deadly with the weapon if he wants to be."

"Overall I would give him a test that will push him to use his skills to the max. A person with at least high Jounin skills…" Jiraiya trailed off seeing the look in Tsunade's eyes.

"A person like Hatake Kakashi?" She asked innocently.

Jiraiya narrowed his eyes at her in suspicion. "His old sensei… he's the strongest Jounin in the village is he not?"

"Hai." Was the immediate response. "He's been training like crazy since Sasuke's defection and Naruto leaving the village. He feels it's partly his fault for Naruto getting hurt and Sasuke running away. Since then he's gotten a lot stronger, and not just him either, everyone has gotten stronger." She finished with a small grin.

Jiraiya couldn't help the grin that slowly took up his face. "Kakashi would be an excellent choice then. If he's gotten so much stronger, than I want to see his level also and Naruto should be able to bring out a good portion if not all of his skills and power. Alright when do you want to have him tested, I like this idea." His smirk said all anyone needed to know.

"Naruto… how strong have you become?" Tsunade asked the wind but it easily carried out to Jiraiya. He frowned but before he could say anything she continued.

"To come from such a horrid past in this village and come out on top of it all, and happy at that, even if we could still see your sadness once in a while. Then to go through all of this over the past two and a half years… why do you have to live such a sad life… Naruto?" She asked no one in particular while looking at her desk.

"I don't know?" She looked up to see it was Jiraiya that answered her. "But I do know this, he's a fighter through and through and he'll get through this one way or another. He's a strong man, no matter who you are, you have to admit that little fact. He's never given up before, and I doubt I'll live to see the day when he does give up."

There was a lengthy pause while they both thought over their words carefully. Finally it was broken when Tsunade asked a question.

"This entire time there has been a question that has been bugging me none stop. Does he still want to be Hokage?" She asked attentively.

Jiraiya looked her straight in the eyes and saw the brief hope shining in them before they were squashed by his next words. "I don't know any more. He hasn't even mentioned being Hokage once the entire time we were together, so I just don't know?"

"… I see. Thank you for telling me everything Jiraiya. I… needed to know what happened over the last two and a half years to turn him so cold. Now I know the reasoning and I can honestly say that I don't see any other way he should be after so many tragic events have happened to him. It saddens me greatly but I can understand why he is this way. I just hope he will let his friends back into his heart and eventually us also." She said sadly.

Jiraiya could only smile sadly in front of her and hope for the best also. He knew without a doubt in his mind that Naruto would eventually become one of the strongest people in the world, if not the strongest to ever live. The way he kept getting stronger and stronger every time you meet him was proof of that. It was only a matter of time before he claimed his rightful place in this world. He even idly thought that Naruto might even surpass the Yondaime in skills and power.

"Jiraiya?" Tsunade's voice brought him out of his thoughts, for him to look at her and not past her.

"Hai?"

"Tomorrow at one in the afternoon we're going to have Naruto tested, please tell him this. I want you to spread the word to Kakashi to be here at my office at ten in the morning. That way he'll arrive here at noon. At that time I want you and me to explain to him that he'll test Naruto and a few other things also. Make sure you tell Hayate to also be at the training field where Naruto's testing will take place. I want his assessment on what Naruto's skills are with a sword."

Jiraiya nodded in understanding before he thought of a question himself. "Ah… where will he be tested?"

Tsunade only smirk at him. "Training fields seven of course." She said it like it was the most logical thing in the world.

Jiraiya just stared at her for a few seconds before shrugging. "Are all the great shinobi of our village tested there?"

Tsunade blinked at him in confusion before realization dawned on her. "You mean like how the Sandaime, Yondaime, and all three Sannin were trained on that field and how they all fought there mentors there as a test?"

Jiraiya could only nod as he grinned. "The field is destined to have famous and powerful people tested on its soils I guess."

Tsunade couldn't help but grin with him. "Indeed." As they said this they both looked out towards the Hokage monument and gazed at its magnificent beauty. Though they had to apply chakra to their eyes to see it at all didn't even occur to them until a few seconds later.

"Wow… time fly's by when you're telling a story. I better get going Tsunade." Jiraiya said after he noticed it was well past dark out and it must be rather late out, so he got up to leave. "I'll make sure Hatake and Gekkou know about tomorrow. Until then."

He waved as he disappeared from his spot like he was a ghost. "I see even you learned a few tricks over the last two and a half years Jiraiya." Tsunade said as she looked at the spot he used to be standing in.

She turned back around and gazed at the village looking for an orange spot but she knew she wouldn't find one. "Naruto…"

* * *

Author notes:

There's the new chapter. Not much to say, but hey hope you enjoyed the thing as much as I hope you do.

As always if you have any questions feel free to ask them in a review or personal message. I'll gladly answer them.

Review…

Battousai222


	3. Mono E Mono

A new chapter for all to enjoy… well hopefully enjoy.

There is only one issue I have to talk about first though. People have been complaining about my supposed bad spelling/grammar skills and I'd appreciate it if people would back off a little bit. I know my spelling and grammar is not the best in the world, but what do you expect, this is fan fiction. If you want perfect go read a newspaper or a real book. I try my best what more do you want. After writing for roughly six plus hours per chapter, re-reading it for blatant mistakes, spellchecking it multiple times, it comes out the way it does. If it's not up to your standards… well I'm sorry but that's the best I can do. I know for a fact there are other stories that are majorly worse off in writing capabilities than mine are so go bug them. I appreciate good criticism, but blatant derogative terms are not needed…

Sorry for that small rant but I had to get that off my chest.

Besides that I want to say this regarding my story so far, you don't know the whole truth yet…look underneath the underneath. Without further ado please enjoy the new chapter.

Shock of the Lightning

Mono E Mono

"You called Hokage-sama?" Looking up from the horrors of paperwork, Tsunade saw just the person she was waiting for to show up.

"Ah… Kakashi, just on time." She said with a smile. She noticed he wore his same clothes that he always had on. Blue Anbu style pants, with a kunai pouch on his right leg. The standard green Jounin vest and his Konoha head band tilted so it was covering his left eye from view.

Said man looked at her in confusion, and looked at the wall where the clock was. It said it was high noon. He looked back at Tsunade and saw her grinning at him like she won the lottery.

"Did I miss something Hokage-sama?" He asked warily, he knew a pissed off Sannin was not a good thing, but one with super strength that could easily send you through walls was definitely on his avoid list. And if he wasn't mistaken he could have sworn that summon frog he got from Jiraiya said to be in Tsunade's office at ten not noon.

"No Kakashi, I just planned ahead for your little late arrival that's all, now sit down we have much to discuss." Her voice was commanding and held no room for argument.

Kakashi gulped still not knowing if he was in trouble or not, and if he was he would be in a world of pain most likely later that day.

"Oh come on Tsunade, there's no reason to freak the poor guy out." Both Kakashi and Tsunade looked over towards the window and saw none other than Jiraiya coming through it and walking towards the far wall before leaning against it calmly.

"Jiraiya-sama, if you're here then Naruto is back in the village with you right?" He asked curiously, hoping his assumption was right.

Jiraiya only nodded in the affirmative and gave a jerk of his head towards Tsunade. Looking over her way he was surprised to see a very serious look on her face.

"Kakashi." Said man sat up straighter in his chair as the harsh voice rubbed his ears. "I have a mission for you. If you accept this mission, you will go in solo and it could possibly be fatal even for a person of your caliber as we're not sure of the targets current strengths or weaknesses. This mission will be considered a high A-rank mission, but there will be no pay for it, as you have already accepted an agreement prior to this one concerning it. Do you accept knowing all these facts?" Tsunade asked while never breaking eye contact with the man.

After several seconds of contemplation, he answered. "Who's the target, and what would you like to be done to said target Hokage-sama?"

"Uzumaki Naruto." Kakashi's eye widened hearing the name but Tsunade ignored it. "And all you have to do is fight him until one of you surrenders or is unconscious."

Kakashi's brain was working over time trying to process all the information he was just given. "Is… is Naruto really that strong now, that you suggest he could possibly kill me?" Was the first thing he asked ignoring the question of the mission.

Tsunade glared at him for another question. "No more questions or answers until you accept or deny the mission Hatake."

The two of them stared at each other for a few more seconds before Kakashi shrugged his shoulders. "Hai, I accept the mission Hokage-sama."

Tsunade's serious look instantly disappeared and was replaced with a small smile. "Why the sudden change of heart Kakashi?"

"He was my student for a while, and like you said, I already made an agreement to be his sensei until he reached Chunnin or I deemed him ready to be alone as a genin. By the sounds of it, he is strong enough to be at least low Jounin level, and my guess is that having me fight him would be his test for promotion, am I correct?" He asked after analyzing every angle given to him.

Tsunade smiled. "I always knew you had a good mind Kakashi, yes everything you said was correct. And to your earlier question on could Naruto possibly kill you, we don't know his skill level, so he might be able to. That's where you come in."

Kakashi gave an understanding nod, but that turned into confusion a second later. "What do you mean you don't know his skill level, I thought you trained him for the last two and a half years Jiraiya-sama?" He directed his question not at the Hokage but the other Sannin in the room.

Said man looked him in the eyes before replying. "I was only with him for five months of the time."

"What about the other two years and one month?"

"He was training with the Raishin clan the entire time." Was the immediate given response.

Kakashi looked confused now. "Who are the Raishin clan, and why haven't I heard of them?"

"They're an elite clan of Kumo (Cloud) country and they specialize in swords. The reason you haven't heard of them is because the clan keeps to themselves most of the time, and separates themselves from the ninja of the village, even though they know many powerful Jutsu to go along with their sword fighting and without." Jiraiya explained to him and Tsunade herself somewhat seeing as she only knew the basics of the clan.

"I see, so you want me to evaluate his skills and see what he's capable of doing. Is there any other piece of advice I should be given before this fight, and speaking of that, when is the match?" Kakashi asked curiously.

"Right to the point I see." Tsunade said getting back on task. "Right, the match will be today in little less than an hour's time at training fields seven. As for advice, ask Jiraiya as I'm not too sure of them myself. He's the one that knows the most about his skills, and Naruto never showed his full abilities to him either."

Both of them looked at Jiraiya with eager eyes. "I told Tsunade everything I know about his skills in general." He started off.

"For one, he has a rather impressive display of jutsu I taught him, around three hundred so look out for more than just Kage Bunshins. Speaking of that jutsu, he rarely uses it anymore." He trailed off looking out into space before focusing all his attention on Kakashi and giving him a stern look.

"When you two fight, treat him like any other enemy ninja out there that you encounter for the first time. He is no longer the care free Naruto you used to know. He's a cold hardened fighter when he wants to be, and he will kill you without a second thought if you give him the chance."

Kakashi looked ready to interrupt but Jiraiya held up his hand silencing him before he could even talk. "I know what you were about to say Kakashi. For reasons I'm not willing to tell you or anyone else for that matter besides Tsunade, Naruto has changed drastically. He's not a care free idiot anymore, but a real shinobi. He's killed before and one more won't matter to him. Do you understand this?" His voice was like steel and impossible to penetrate or argue with.

"Hai Jiraiya-sama." He said with an equally serious voice but he couldn't help but wonder what could have happened to cause Naruto to turn out like they were talking about. He would just have to wait and see Naruto for himself to make a judgment on his new skills and attitude.

"Good, because I don't want you to die for believing this was the same idiotic Naruto that you all knew. Now I'm going to leave all of his known skills out besides the amount of jutsu he knows from me, which I already told you about. I want this to be a fair fight after all; he doesn't know your own personal skills and secrets, so it's only fair. But I will give you one bit of advice. No matter what, when and if he draws his sword, be on full alert and go all out. Naruto is deadly with that sword of his." He finished seriously.

Kakashi looked between the two Sannin and nodded his head in understanding. "I didn't have any intention of treating him with anything but the utmost respect as a shinobi. In this career, anyone can be the death of you if you're not on guard."

"Good, You are dismissed Kakashi, I expect you to be at the training grounds at exactly one O'clock and no later is that understood!" She asked threatingly.

Kakashi nodded his head absentmindedly, already lost in thoughts about what Naruto could be like now and how strong he was. He waved his hand after being dismissed and shunshined out of the office with the classic poof of smoke. He had no intentions of being late for this meeting.

Not a minute later the door to Tsunade's office was kicked open and banged against the wall with the handle imbedded into the plaster holding it wide open. Both Tsunade and Jiraiya tensed for a fight but relaxed when they noticed it was only Gai and his three old students standing behind him looking sheepish for letting him do that.

Tsunade glared at the man that was looking around the room frantically. "What do you think you're doing Gai?" She yelled at the man in irritation.

Said man looked up at her like he just noticed she was in the room for the first time. This only helped fuel her already building temper at having a person barge into her office unannounced. "Hokage-sama, what are you doing here?" He asked clueless.

"This is my office you moron!" She yelled while throwing a paper weight at him.

Said moron was sent into the wall by the paper weight of death as others like to call it. It only became a deadly weapon when in her hands as that supper strength was rather scary.

The others in the office winced in sympathy for the downed man but not two seconds later he was up and standing like nothing happened. "I'm so sorry for my most un-youthful entrance Hokage-sama, but I was looking for my eternal rival Kakashi, he seems to be running away from our scheduled fight which is most un-youthful of him!" He added as an afterthought.

The others in the room winced at his use of the word un-youthful as if it was a crime to say it.

'Now that's a thought, I could make it into a law…' Tsunade thought with glee but quickly shot it down when she thought of the obnoxious duo when they heard of her intentions. They would never leave her alone.

Said obnoxious duo where currently screaming different tasks at each other, about if they couldn't find Kakashi they would do something that was practically impossible. The duo was none other than Maito Gai and Rock Lee, his apprentice.

"Enough! If that's all you wanted then get out and leave Kakashi alone today, he won't be able to fight you." She said irritated at their little antics.

They both stopped instantly and Gai looked at her curiously. "If I may ask, why can't I fight Kakashi today? Is he hurt?" He asked in a calm voice.

Tsunade sighed and looked towards Jiraiya who only shrugged his shoulders at her stare. The questioning look was easy to translate. 'Should I tell them?'

"Kakashi will be fighting Naruto today to gauge his current skill level." She said after a few seconds of thought.

Team Gai, as that's what they were called, consisted of Tenten: a Chunnin, Hyuuga Neji: a new Jounin, Rock Lee: a Chunnin, and Maito Gai: another Jounin and the most powerful of them all. They were just about to comment on what she just said when they heard a cocky voice from behind them.

"So the dope has finally returned!" Team Gai looked behind them and saw the old team eight standing not five feet from them. The one who spoke was none other than Inuzuka Kiba. The whole team consisted of Yuhi Kurenai: a Jounin and the strongest on the team, Inuzuka Kiba: a Chunnin, Hyuuga Hinata: a Chunnin, and Aburame Shino: a Chunnin.

"And he'll be fighting one of the strongest Jounin in the village. I'd love to see his ass get kicked, where's it taking place?" He grinned at the rest of them ignoring the glares he was getting, or maybe he was just clueless about them.

"Kiba… y-you shouldn't t-talk about Naruto-kun l-like that." Hinata stuttered out after hearing about her crush being back in the village.

"That dope, na… he'll never beat Kakashi. He's just too strong of a fighter for him." He said without thinking about it.

"Kiba you really shouldn't judge people before you know them, a lot can happen in two and a half years. Naruto might be strong enough to win." Kurenai argued with her former student.

"No way, I could beat the dope no problem, and I'm no match for Kakashi." He said confidently.

"Kind of like how you beat him during the Chunnin exams?" Neji asked him rhetorically.

Kiba whirled on the voice that talked. "Hey! He got lucky during that fight, and besides, he beat you to remember?"

Neji just glanced at him. "That's the entire point you moron."

"Hey! I'm not a moron you prick!" He yelled back in offence.

Neji didn't falter any though. "Like your former sensei said, a lot can change in two and a half years, and those Chunnin exams were a long time ago. And in case you don't remember, a shinobi is supposed to learn from their past mistakes. You'd think after losing once to him after you underestimated his skills, you'd be smart enough not to judge his skills my a title giving to him when he was in the academy and not even a ninja."

"Why you little…" Kiba stepped forward threatingly but got only two steps before he was stopped by a loud commanding voice.

"Enough! I won't have my ninja squabbling like little children fresh out of the academy. Your ninja so act like it!" Tsunade yelled at them all.

Kiba looked sheepish but Neji just nodded his head in understanding. The others watched on to see where this conversation would go.

Sitting back down at her desk, Tsunade leaned back in her chair and massaged her temple with a frown marring her face. "If you want to come watch the fight, then be my guest, but you will not interfere in any way what so ever. If you prove to be a distraction then I'll have you removed immediately. Is that understood?" She asked the currently occupants of her office.

Everyone nodded in understanding. They all wanted to see how Naruto has been and how much he's changed. The fact they get to see his skills in action against one of the best if not the best Jounin in the village was just a huge bonus.

"Good, then let's get going. I'd rather not be late to one of my own meetings I set up." She said as she got up and grabbed her jacket before heading out the door followed quickly behind by the others in the office. The other people that showed up in her office seemed to dismiss the fact that they went to her office with an intention in mind, but discarded it to see the upcoming fight.

By the time they made it to the training field they had added one more guest to their group. One Haruno Sakura, former teammate of Uzumaki Naruto and Uchiha Sasuke.

Having finally gotten there they noticed Kakashi was already leaning against a tree but there was something curious about him. He was standing without his Ichi Ichi Paradise book in his hand and he wasn't giggling perversely.

When they walked into the clearing said man looked up from the ground and waved the others over.

"Well you brought quite the crew with you but aren't we missing one other person, you did say one O'clock, right Hokage-sama?" He asked once they were within hearing range.

Tsunade only nodded her head while looking around the clearing for any signs of the young man that should be here by now. Looking at her watch she noticed they arrived slightly early by a few seconds, and was about to tell the others to wait for Naruto when she saw something coming out of the tree lines across from them.

Turning in that direction she saw it was the person they were waiting for. The only other person to sense him was Jiraiya, but the others noticed them looking into the tree lines and followed there gazes.

When Naruto walked into view some in the group gasped, others tensed by the new look he sported.

The ones that gasped were the old rookie nine that was there. The ones that tensed were Gai, Kurenai, and Kakashi. Both Jiraiya and Tsunade were already used to the new look and the cold eyes so they weren't affected.

The others weren't as lucky as they could do nothing but stare for a few seconds before it was broken by Naruto talking.

"You summoned me Hokage-sama?" He asked referring to only her and ignoring all the others around him. The others in the clearing that had gotten their wits together in time to hear scowled at him.

Kiba was one of those people.

"What? No hello after such a long time dope?" He asked while his dog whimpered at him from behind, but he ignored what the enormous dog that reached to his stomach on height: Akamaru was saying having his full attention on the person in front of him.

The only indicator that Naruto even heard him was the slight glance he gave him from the corner of his eyes before he turned his eyes back to the Hokage who was frowning at him.

This only seemed to irritate him more though. "Why you! Do you think you're so good that you can ignore me now!?" He yelled stepping forward threatingly.

"Enough!" Tsunade yelled out sensing and seeing the incoming fight that was sure to happen. She knew for a fact that Kiba would get his ass handed to him if what Jiraiya had to say was true. That and the fact that she was one of only six, the Jounin and above ranked people who saw the kunai Naruto had in his hand.

The second she yelled though she noticed the kunai disappearing into his trench coat again. The others that saw this were slightly disturbed by the actions he would have taken if things turned into a fight but let it slide for now.

"I didn't allow you to come here so you could interfere Kiba! Have you already forgotten what I said while we were in my office?" Tsunade asked him directly.

Kiba only grumbled under his breath but he stepped back remembering that Naruto would soon get his ass kicked by Kakashi any ways, so he didn't need to do anything for now.

"Good, now let's get back to why we're here." Tsunade said turning back to Naruto. "Uzumaki Raishin Naruto." The others looked at her like she grew a second head when she added the Raishin to his name but knew not to interrupt when she was talking.

"I have called you here today so your skills in combat can be tested against an opponent of my choosing, so the village of Konoha has a record of your skills and they're not being wasted on meaningless missions. This test will also be a promotion if you prove your skills are affective enough for me to beseech you with a higher rank. Do you understand your purpose here today Uzumaki?" She asked with a harsh voice and being completely serious.

The others frowned at her tone of voice knowing of the twos relationship and how they thought of each other. But looking at Naruto, they expected to see some kind of sadness or frown, but all he showed was a neutral face and a calm exterior.

"Hai Hokage-sama." He answered after a glance at the others in the clearing behind her.

She saw this but said nothing about it. "Good, your opponent will be Hatake Kakashi. Did you bring all your equipment needed for a fight?"

Naruto turned his eyes towards the Cyclops that was still leaning against the tree staring intently at him. He looked him over with a glance and noticed he hasn't changed his outfit much from before he left the village to train. He turned his eyes back to Tsunade and nodded in the affirmative.

"I'm ready for combat at all times Hok-… Tsunade-sama." He corrected himself seeing the glare he got for saying Hokage the first time and the second.

"I see; if that's the case then you have the entire field seven at your disposal. You may start when I give the signal. The only rules are you don't kill each other and your opponent has to come out in one piece. The match will stop when I either call it, one of you is unconscious, or one of you gives up." All she got for an answer was a small nod from each of them as they turned to face each other.

Seeing everything was in order, Tsunade led the others in the clearing to the tree lines and jumped into the trees. After finding one that was relatively high, with enough branches for everyone to sit or stand on she turned her attention back onto the field.

The first thing she noticed was that Kakashi was still leaning against the same tree and Naruto was still facing him looking calmly at the other man staring him down. From what she could tell, they hadn't stopped staring the entire time. The only thing different about them was that Naruto had sealed his cloak into a scroll on his body. Shaking her head she cleared her throat.

"You can begin whenever you're ready!" She yelled out loudly so they would hear her from her position in the tree lines with the others observing right around her.

For several seconds it seemed like neither of them would do anything but stare at each other, but then Kakashi sighed bringing their attention to him.

Standing his full height Kakashi looked right at his opponent. "It's good to see you Naruto; I see the two and a half years of training were well spent."

All he got in return was silence. Frowning for the lack of communication he moved his left arm slightly upwards but he had to abandon this action immediately unless he wanted to be impaled by several shuriken coming his way.

Jumping to the side while still keeping his eye's focus on the perpetrator that was Naruto, he look out some of his own shuriken and threw them at his still motionless opponent.

Seeing the incoming attacks Naruto also jumped to the side heading the same way Kakashi was heading, towards the trees. Frowning seeing his tactic coming up he skidded on the ground and went through four seals at slow Jounin speed. Putting his right hand up to his mouth after taking a deep breath Naruto finished his jutsu.

"Katon: Gokakyu no jutsu!" (Fire: Grand Fire Ball) The ball of fire that came out of his mouth headed towards the tree lines right in front of Kakashi effectively stopping him in his tracks unless he wanted to get burned. Jumping forward after his attack was successful; he appeared in front of the startled Kakashi with a kunai out ready to use.

Bringing the kunai down Naruto hit another kunai from Kakashi trying to block it. Naruto didn't let this deter him though and with a slight push of chakra in his left foot, he flipped over Kakashi who stumbled forward from the loss of pressure and received a kunai between the eyes from the over head Naruto.

Landing on the ground, Naruto didn't even look when he heard a popping sound but kept his eyes to the front.

The Kakashi that he just killed was nothing more than a log that was used in a Kawamari jutsu. (Replacement)

Staring at his opponent he frowned when he realized he didn't accomplish stopping Kakashi. "I see it won't be that easy Kakashi." Naruto spoke up slowly.

"Indeed." Said man responded. He was standing ten feet from Naruto with his left hand over his head band ready to raise it. "You've definitely improved Naruto; I'll need this to keep up." With that statement he raised his head band showing his Sharingan eye. The eye was blood red with three black tomes.

"Shall we?" He gestured for Naruto to come with his hand.

Naruto watched him slightly more cautiously now that he had the Sharingan out but he didn't let it deter him, if anything it only made the fight more interesting.

Making three seals at a civilian speed Naruto leaned slightly to the side and then back to the other side. Kakashi frowned seeing this as his Sharingan picked up the jutsu like child's play, but let Naruto do whatever he was going to do.

"You know with the Sharingan I can see through any Genjutsu right Naruto?" Kakashi asked his former student.

Naruto didn't seem concerned at all though and only continued to sway on his feet for ten seconds before he stumbled to the right. That's when the jutsu took effect and his body seemed to travel to the side at high speed even for a Jounin level ninja leaving after images of his body in its wake and then it just disappeared from view fifteen feet from where it started.

Kakashi watched all of this with caution. He knew exactly where Naruto was, but to use that jutsu was another thing entirely. It was a low to mid range Chunnin Genjutsu, nothing that a Jounin would fall for, especially him, seeing as his Sharingan could see through all Genjutsu.

'What are you playing at Naruto?' He thought.

Unknown to him, the others in the tree line were also thinking along that same thought. Every single one of them could see through the Genjutsu.

Kiba smirked seeing this. "Well the dope has at least some skill with Genjutsu now, it's better than before he left anyways, but that's just pathetic."

The others glanced at him but Kurenai narrowed her eyes. "No, that Genjutsu was just a distraction, the real one is about to start, I can feel him forming one, though it's very discrete, almost high Jounin level Genjutsu." She said absentmindedly.

The others looked at her like she grew an extra head but knew not to argue with her when it came to Genjutsu's seeing as she was the best in the village in that field.

"Besides." Jiraiya started. "With his control of his chakra now being at elite Jounin level, a Genjutsu of the level Kurenai is talking about wouldn't be too hard for him."

"His controls that good now?" Tsunade asked.

"Hai, the things I've seen him do would need that sort of control, so I know it's that good." He stated confidently. The others reluctantly agreed and continued to watch the fight when they noticed Naruto disappear.

Kakashi saw this and his eyes widened slightly before he pushed some chakra into his Sharingan eye to cancel the effects. It only took half a second but that was more than enough for Naruto to get into position.

With a flick of his wrist he sent a kunai sailing towards the confused man and charged in right behind it.

Just as the Genjutsu canceled, Kakashi had to quickly bring a kunai out to block the incoming one, only to see a blur appear behind him, which happened to be Naruto.

Taking advantage of his opponents back, Naruto kicked out with his foot right into Kakashi's back sending him sailing through the air. Not stopping there, he formed a couple of fast seals in a split second.

"Futon: Renkudan." (Drilling Air Bullet) The compressed air sped at the still airborne man who flipped to see the incoming attack and let out a volley of shuriken to intercept the attack.

The two collided and the air ball exploded sending the shuriken in every direction.

Landing on the ground Kakashi immediately sprung forward with a kunai in his right hand.

Naruto did the same thing seeing his attack stopped so easily.

They both charged at moderate speed and met in the middle of the clearing with kunai drawn and ready. Clashing was heard throughout the clearing as swipe after swipe they exchanged blows with each other, doing a deadly dance of mortal combat with each other.

That is until Kakashi positioned his kunai just right and managed to make Naruto drop his otherwise lose a finger or worse. Taking advantage of his weaponless opponent he swung at him only for his arm to be blocked at the wrist with Naruto's forearm and his arm violently grabbed and twisted causing him to flip with the twist or get a broken arm.

This also had the unfortunate consequence of making him drop his weapon, but that still left him with plenty. Landing in a crouch, he blocked the kick coming at his gut, and pushed it to the side while bringing a fist to Naruto's face.

Letting the fist glance his face by tilting his head sideways he leaned forward and elbowed Kakashi in the shoulder and following his twisting body, tried to back hand him with his other hand only for the man to jump back from him and continue for three more jumps until there was a good twenty foot space between them.

Both stood up and slid into their respective taijutsu (Hand to Hand) stances. Kakashi's was standing with his knees bent and slightly to the side facing Naruto with his back completely straight standing to his full height. One hand was open while the other was half clenched. It was a mix between the Iron fist and the interceptor fist.

Naruto also slid into a stance of his own. He was crouching with his legs bent and his upper body leaning slightly forward while his entire body was side ways to Kakashi's. He had his left leg completely in front of him with it being slightly bent. His right leg was almost at a ninety degree angle to the ground. His left arm was stretched out straight with an open palm, and his right arm was facing towards the back of his body, also straight with a slight bend as was his other arm, with his palm being open.

Naruto sliding into this stance caused all of the Jounin and one Hokage eyes to widen dramatically.

Kakashi faltered in his own stance seeing the very familiar one in front of him that he hasn't seen in over sixteen years.

"H-How do you know that style?!" He stuttered out questionably.

The other Jounin and Hokage wanted to know this also. Jiraiya wasn't affected at all by it though, Tsunade noticed with narrowed eyes.

Naruto also narrowed his eyes. "And how do you recognize this style Kakashi? As far as I know, no one in Konoha has ever been taught by a Raishin clansman and it's strictly forbidden to teach this style to anyone but a clansman no matter what."

Kakashi's eyes widened even more from that little bit of information. "You mean you learned that style from the Raishin clan, and does that mean you're part of their clan now?"

Naruto let a small bit of killer intent rise from his body threateningly. "You didn't answer my question Hatake. Where do you know this style from?!" He snarled out getting angry that an outsider knew their clans style.

"I don't know the style personally, only one person in Konoha could ever learn that style, and he created most of it himself after learning from a scroll the basic stances." He answered seeing his growing anger at the obviously clan only style.

"Who Hatake!"

"My sensei, the Yondaime Hokage, Namikaze Minato." He answered.

Naruto let his killer intent subside and stood from his stance and turned to the direction of the people watching.

While Kakashi and Naruto were talking, Tsunade slid up to Jiraiya and pulled him up by his collar and glared at him. He remained completely calm and looked her in the eyes.

"You taught him _that_ style?!" She yelled the words 'that' threatingly while keeping her voice a whisper so not even the famous Inuzuka ears could hear them.

Jiraiya just tilted his head to the others, and Tsunade followed his gaze and listened to them talk about it being a Raishin clan taijutsu style only. She snapped her head in Jiraiya direction again and let him drop after a second thought.

"You know I won't teach him any of that until both of us say he's ready, but he already had eighty percent of the style down, I just helped him perfect it to one hundred percent." He told her calmly.

She was about to respond when she was interrupted by the person they were talking about yelling up to them.

"Tsunade-sama!" He yelled angrily. Said women looked at him and saw he was actually pissed at something and didn't have that deadly calm about him anymore.

"Does this scroll the Yondaime had still exist?" He questioned with a glare.

She sent one back at him. "That is confidential information Naruto, I can't tell you."

The glare he sent her was bone chilling; it didn't help that he released an enormous amount of killer intent that equaled what a Kage could put out. Tsunade idly noticed the others around her freeze up and shiver a second.

"The Humming bird taijutsu style is a Raishin clan secret, and it will be kept that way as long as I'm alive. If there's a scroll out there telling how to do it, I want it. I don't care who's it is, they won't have our secrets, or I will personally kill them. Now is the scroll still in existence?" He asked her with a deadly glare.

She met his glare full force, and if she was honest with herself she was slightly put out by it, but she didn't let any of that show on the outside. "For your information it does exist, but no one can get to it."

Naruto only narrowed his eyes. "And how do you know this?"

"All of the Yondaime's personal Jutsu and things are at his clan house, and there are extensive seals around the place, no one but blood could ever get in, not even Jiraiya with his extensive knowledge of seals can get in." She informed him calmly, pushing aside the killer intent, knowing that the information just given would subdue his anger.

It took a few seconds of staring at her but he nodded in understanding and let his killer intent drop to nothing again. "I'm sorry for losing my temper Hokage-sama, but these are clan secrets, I won't let them fall into the wrong hands, especially now." He apologized sincerely while bowing to her.

"I understand Naruto; just don't let it happen again." She said calmly.

"Hai Tsunade-sama." He replied immediately.

The others around Tsunade let a breath out when the killer intent subsided and relaxed again.

"Unreal, I've never felt that much killer intent before." Kiba spoke up with wide eyes. The others could only node but Jiraiya spooked them by appearing beside them.

"That's because his killer intent is at Kage level, the most you've ever felt is High Jounin." He stated matter of factly. The others just gaped at him stupidly.

"The baka… how can he produce such a high killer intent?" He asked angrily.

Jiraiya only shook his head sadly at the obvious jealous boy. "You don't want to have killer intent as high as he has, the cost is too much."

Kiba looked at him angrily and was about to retort so, when Neji interrupted him calmly. "The only other way to raise ones killer intent without training to be at that level physically also, is by having something dramatic happen to you, and your body pushes itself past its limits, and at that time you have to feel pure hate or anger at something or someone."

Kiba lost all his anger and looked back at Naruto that was in the clearing that was still facing them. His body and face was back to being neutral and calm like it was before. It's rather surprising how fast he could bring that level of killer intent out really.

"You can continue the fight now Naruto, Kakashi." Tsunade stated seeing Naruto waiting for her orders on his previous actions.

Turning around he walked back to where he was before and was about to slid into his stance again when he was stopped by Kakashi asking him a question.

"Wait Naruto." Seeing as he got his attention, Kakashi continued. "About my question earlier…" He let the question hang in the air seeing Naruto's neutral face take on a colder edge.

Taking a deep breath, Naruto answered. "Hai, Kakashi I'm part of the clan. Anything else you want to know before we continue our fight?" He asked guardedly.

Frowning he thought for a few seconds before nodding. "Did you enjoy your time there?"

"Hai, it was the happiest I've ever been in my life there. I had my own family and we took care of each other, it was good while it lasted." He trailed off quietly showing a little sadness at the end.

Frowning he asked the next question he had. "Why do you speak of them like they're gone Naruto?"

Naruto lowered his head when he asked the question but when he raised his head Kakashi actually took a step back at the cold glaciers his eyes had turned into. Those were the eyes of a man on a mission to kill by any means necessary, and he would do whatever it took. "They're all dead." He stated coldly, his voice alone sent a shiver down everyone's spines in the area.

Up in the tree's everyone that was watching had different reactions. Some sobered up and stopped judging Naruto right there. Some narrowed their eyes, and others gasped in shock and sadness.

"I see… there's only one more question I have Naruto, what happened to your wife?" Kakashi questioned quietly.

Everyone in the tree's watching that didn't already know, gasped in shock that Naruto was married at some point in time.

Naruto clenched his fists into balls; they were so tight in fact that his knuckles had turned white and a second later blood started to drip from his closed fists.

"Dead, she was murdered." Naruto said in a hollow voice.

Everyone in the clearing had a violent reaction to this, especially the ones who knew of his past in the village and how unhappy he was when a child. To have nothing from the very beginning and then finally gain everything you had ever dreamed of in your life, and have it ripped from your grasp, was just… terrible.

"When I…" Everyone was brought out of there depressing thoughts when Naruto spoke in that same hollow voice as before, it was only a whisper but it traveled to everyone in the area. His hands had loosened showing unmarked skin, uncanny for a person that has blood from wounds on them that were now gone not even a minute later after they were inflicted.

"When I run into the ones responsible for taking away my family, I'll destroy them all; I'll leave nothing but dead behind." His voice went from hollow to a deadly quality in a split second, to a cold detached at the end.

"Everyone that knew of the attack in Iwa, Sound, and anyone else will die by my blade, which is a promise of a life time." He swore with cold conviction. The ones that knew him in the clearing knew of the full implications of what he just said.

Uzumaki Raishin Naruto _never_ broke his promises; he'd go through hell and back to accomplish them. To know he had a grudge this huge against those two countries was something huge, and could possibly be disastrous.

"Enough questions Hatake." Naruto stated calmly, but he was different now, his voice was a monotone, and his entire being radiated seriousness.

"Let's continue our fight, but this time we don't hold anything back." With that Naruto took out the same scroll he had out earlier before the fight started.

Kakashi tensed getting ready for anything, but he didn't have to. After Naruto bit his finger drawing blood, he swiped it on the scroll, and with a puff of smoke the trench cloak from earlier was back in his possession.

Putting the scroll away, Naruto put his clan cloak on with reverence. It was the same pitch black one with red lightning traveling all around it. The cloak reach just passed his knees, and covered his entire back. The sleeves were cut so they stopped half way down the bicep and the front was left completely open. It could be closed if wanted but Naruto left it open for some reason.

Looking the person in front of him over, Kakashi couldn't help but picture the Yondaime superimposed over Naruto. They looked so similar but yet completely different.

He wasn't the only one that thought so either. All the Jounin and two Sannin could see the similarities; it was almost scary how much they looked alike.

It was only when Naruto put his hands in the ram seal did Kakashi come back to the present and do the same. Both narrowed their eyes in exertion and the clearing was filled with a heavy feeling of pressure.

Both of their chakra's spiked and steadily grew. Kakashi's topped out at elite Jounin, but Naruto's kept growing beyond it. The others could only watch in shock as it kept rising well past Kakashi's level and into the Sannin level. But they got an even bigger shock when it rose past that and started to effect the actual environment around him.

The rocks started rising in the air, and being crushed under the pressure, and the ground under his feet cracked until finally his chakra spiked to its max at low level Kage chakra.

Looking up Naruto could see the shocked looks on most of their faces but didn't let it bother him. He had a fight to finish.

Locking eyes with his opponent he slide into his humming bird taijutsu style while Kakashi slide into his combo style. The others in the clearing knew this is where the real fight started. With no warning what so ever Naruto charged forward at low Jounin speed.

Kakashi prepared himself for the attack, and was not surprised when Naruto sped up at the last second to strike him hard. After all, he was Minato's student and he saw him use this same style, it was almost like fighting his sensei, but he knew they were two different people with different skills.

Naruto saw him tense for the speed burst at the end, but he figured it would be like this, his style was used by this man's sensei after all. With a burst of speed he covered the last five feet with lightning fast speed and thrust his right arm forward at high Jounin speed.

Kakashi ducked the initial strike while jumping backwards and sending his left foot for a sweep kick that was easily jumped over.

Landing quickly, Naruto covered the short distance and let a volley of strikes at his opponent that were all either dodged or blocked. Frowning at the lack of hits connecting, Naruto changed tactics.

Letting Kakashi catch one of his kicks he positioned his body so he would have no choice but to flip him backwards and that is exactly what he did. Going with the flow Naruto landed on his hands and twisted his body around.

Kakashi wouldn't say it out loud but Naruto was doing amazingly good. He was keeping him on the defensive and giving him no room for offensive attacks but he got his opening when he flipped him backwards.

That thought went out the window when Naruto spun on his hands and fell purposely forward on his back bringing an axe kick right into his shoulder blade making him buckle under the impact.

Naruto saw his attack was successful and continued with the attack. Twisting his body again he hit Kakashi in the face with his other leg sending the man tumbling on the ground before he flipped onto his feet. By that time Naruto was already on his feet though and charging head on at him.

The others watching could only watch on in fascination and admiration of their skills. Kiba had his mouth open in shock at the clear level of power and skill Naruto was displaying against the most powerful and skilled Jounin in the village. He was easily holding his own and he grudgingly admitted that he was the better fighter of the two.

Kakashi blocked the first strike at his face and the next ten, and his Sharingan finally caught an opening that he took immediate action against. Throwing a punch he knew Naruto could easily dodge he waited for the side step that would come.

Just as he predicted, he side stepped and he immediately threw his elbow out striking Naruto in the shoulder and turned the fight to his advantage.

Having enough of being on the defensive after getting hit ten times in various places Naruto jumped back while throwing a kunai at Kakashi.

Seeing the kunai and the present attached, Kakashi leapt back avoiding the explosion that came when it hit the ground and caused smoke to rise into the air covering their view of each other.

"Doton: Doryudan." (Earth Dragon Bullet) Kakashi heard the attack through the smoke. Acting quickly knowing what the attack did, he made his own jutsu.

"Doton: Doryuheki." (Earth Wall) Stomping the ground a wall of earth shot up in front of him blocking the incoming chunks of earth.

The second the last thump of earth colliding was heard Naruto came from above the wall and dropped on top of him. With gravity helping him Naruto was able to block the swipe made with a kunai and twist his body to send a chop to the neck making him choke and stumble backwards.

The second he landed though the Kakashi he hit crumbled into dirt and two hands grabbed his ankles and pulled him under ground.

"Doton: Shinju Zanshu no jutsu." (Inner Decapitation) Standing above ground now Kakashi was quick to react when a kunai came sailing at him from above and blew up a part of the wall he made just a second ago making it crumble on top of him.

Jumping to the side he was just able to get out of the way when he saw a ball of compressed water coming at him from the side. He ideally noticed the pop sound coming from the place he pulled Naruto underground up to his head.

'Kage Bunshin' (Shadow Clone) He thought. 'There goes Jiraiya's theory of him not using it anymore, but he did say he just doesn't use it a lot now… damn'

Going through seals at his fastest pace he sent a stream of fire in the direction the water ball came from.

"Katon: Karyudan." (Fire Dragon Missile) The two attacks collided but most of his attack flew around the ball of water and towards the Naruto that he could now see dodging his attack by rolling away.

With his role he grabbed some shuriken and let them fly at Kakashi while forming seals afterwards.

"Shuriken Shadow Clone no jutsu." The five shuriken multiplied into fifty heading towards the only other man in the clearing.

Said man saw this coming from a mile away and decided to get more serious with the jutsu fight.

"Doton: Doryuheki." (Earth Wall) The wall shot up again like last time but he didn't stop here.

"Doton: Dorama." (Earth Shot) Hitting the wall with his fists he pushed chakra into his fist each time it connected with the wall sending out chunks of earth about a foot big each time. He continued this twenty times before stopping, having Naruto on the defensive dodging attacks left and right with deflected shuriken in there also.

"Katon: Gakakyu no jutsu." (Grand Fire Ball)

Naruto saw the incoming fire jutsu coming at him but being in mid air he knew it would be tricky to dodge, especially with all the earth attacks still falling around him. Pushing off a nearby falling earth chuck, Naruto jumping to the side and tried to get out of the way only for his cloak to catch on fire as he dodged.

Rolling on the ground he applied chakra to the cloak to smother the flames. It almost worked but the distraction cost him.

"Suiton: Koka Suijin." (Concentrated Water Spike)

Sensing the incoming attack he jumped straight into the air to avoid it. He saw out of the bottom of his eye lids that it was a spike of water that he just barely dodged in time. Sadly that wasn't enough for him.

Kakashi saw his chance when he went straight up into the air. Jumping high in the air by leaping off of two trees he positioned himself above Naruto.

"Suiton: Hakonryu." (Rapid Crasher)

Even if he wanted to dodge he couldn't, and he didn't have the time to use replacement, so Naruto did the only thing left for him, he threw his arms in front of his face and upper chest and reinforced them with chakra.

It wasn't a second to late either, as the rapid torrent of water that came at him washed right over him and slammed him into the ground hard.

Landing a couple yards away Kakashi waited for the dust to clear to see the damage done.

* * *

Author notes:

Wells there's the new chapter. I really do hope you enjoyed it as much as I did writing it. I originally didn't plan to have the fight last this long, but I personally think that's the way I like doing fights. The longer and more detail the better. It puts more insight into things.

Besides that not much to say really but please feel free to leave a review or personal message me if you have comments or questions.

Battousai222


	4. Results of Training

It seems that some people can't see outside the box to well. Last chapter when I said _'regarding my story so far, you don't know the whole truth yet…look underneath the underneath' _I really meant it. Whoever said the fight was over between Kakashi and Naruto? I didn't, if you remember Kakashi was waiting for the dust to clear.

Also, whoever said you knew the whole story of Naruto's two-and-a-half year training trip. True Jiraiya told a very detailed story to Tsunade, but he wasn't there the whole time! He got second hand stories and Intel from other sources, i.e. his spy network, and Naruto himself. Could people be lying, or not telling the whole truth, or twisting stories around…_hell ya they could!_

Now that that's cleared up please enjoy the new chapter and all that it comes with!

Shock of the Lightning

Results of Training

Kakashi didn't have to wait long for the dust to clear as Naruto was just flipping up from the impact and landing on his feet from his downed positioned on the ground.

Dusting himself off Naruto inspected the damage. Besides his sour ribs, he knew he was perfectly fine, but that's not what he was looking at. No he was looking at the damage done to his cloak. He noticed right away that half of the bottom was burnt off and there were multiple holes in the fabric.

"That won't do…" He mumbled to himself but with his Sharingan eye activated Kakashi read his lips and knew what he said. He was rather astonished when he sensed chakra being pushed into the cloak and it seemingly repairing itself. He wondered how he was doing it when he noticed a slight glow from the inside of the cloak and saw just a glimpse of a seal, or maybe that was multiple seals seeing how fast it was repairing.

In two seconds flat the article of clothing was back to new. Naruto nodded to himself and lifted his gaze to Kakashi's.

"Well, you're sure fast on the draw when it comes to jutsu, aren't you Kakashi?" Naruto asked rhetorically.

Said man was about to make a comment but was interrupted when Naruto kept going. "Looks like I'll have to go all out now… prepare yourself." Naruto's voice went from mono tone to downright deadly dangerous after the slight pause and then the warning.

Making two different seals Naruto held his hands in the ram seal for a good four seconds while his body seemed to dry itself of all the water.

"Katon: Atsusa." (Heat) Naruto's body steamed for a few seconds until his body was completely dry again.

"I'll admit that you've gotten better Naruto, definitely low Jounin in skills, maybe mid Jounin, but you're no match for me, let alone strong enough to keep that promise you made earlier." Kakashi stated matter of factly but cringed at the end realizing his choice of wording was very bad.

"You… you dare say that… anything but that… I refuse to let them get away with what they did Hatake!" Naruto whispered venomously but his words echoed out to everyone around to hear.

Shaking from head to toe, Naruto slowly lifted his head from the ground, showing a calm face that betrayed every emotion of anger and hate he felt on the inside.

"You do not question my ability to avenge my family Hatake…" His voice was venomous and with every word he spoke his chakra would rise slightly higher until it peaked out at low level Sannin.

"_Ever_!" Naruto calmly replied out as he let his chakra explode out from his body, but this wasn't just chakra, but nature chakra.

To be more specific, it was his lightning nature chakra.

The others couldn't believe what they were seeing in front of them. The second Naruto's chakra reached its peak; everyone in the clearing felt a foreboding feeling, Kakashi felt it the most and he immediately jumped backwards.

It was a good thing that he did to, as the second he leapt from the ground lightning crackled around Naruto's arms and spread over his body until it encompassed him in a field of electricity. When he let his chakra explode the lightning that was mixed in went with it and spread around him for a good ten feet.

Everyone, even the elite Jounin, Hokage, and Sannin couldn't believe what they were seeing. Such a high control of one's element was unheard of. The ground where the lightning was touching was leaving scorch marks and slight cracks and indents every where it touched. When it finally resided Naruto was left completely unharmed. They could still see small sparks shooting around his finger tips every now and then but to have such control was phenomenal.

After watching the display of elemental manipulation Kakashi gulped loudly and absentmindedly wondered what he had gotten himself into.

Staring the man down, Naruto couldn't help but glare for what this man said.

'He'll pay…' Kept repeating over and over in his head before his mantra just stopped abruptly and the entire area around them for a good half mile was perfectly silent.

"Fight Hatake!" Naruto calmly voiced before he shot forward at mid Jounin level speed and reached him within seconds.

Kakashi tensed getting ready for the volley of attacks to come and quickly re-slid into his respective stance seeing Naruto in his humming bird style. The second he was within ten feet Naruto sped up to a speed even he wasn't expecting and thus caught him off guard.

Covering the last few feet at low Sannin level speed Naruto got right up to Kakashi's guard and slapped his hands away from his hastily put up defense to nail a hard right fist to the gut sending the man skidding back.

He didn't end it there though and kept attacking with even more ferocity.

Charging forward Naruto thrust his left hand forward only to get it caught and catch a left fist of his own. Both stood struggling for domination over the other in pure strength and with a slight step back and push forward Naruto came out on top while Kakashi stumbled back.

Going with the backwards movement, Kakashi used it to jump back and create some distance while doing some seals.

"Katon: Hosenka no jutsu." (Phoenix fire balls) Effectively shooting out multiple fire balls about the diameter of two feet in Naruto's direction.

Not stopping his charge any, Naruto weaved in and out of the deadly fire balls with grace and accuracy leaving them to pass by at least a foot each time while doing his own seals.

Kakashi saw this with his Sharingan eye but couldn't tell what jutsu he was using as his cloak was blocking his view of the hand seals.

Getting in range of Kakashi, Naruto brought his hands out of his cloak and thrust them forward only for Kakashi's eyes to widen and for him to use replacement at the last second.

Seeing that Naruto's hands were covered in chakra of lightning manipulation, his eyes widened and he used a quick replacement and just in time. As the second that Naruto's hand touched the log the thing was covered in electricity and was blasted apart by the high intensity of lightning traveling through it.

"Futon: Renkudan." (Drilling Air Bullet) Kakashi let out a ball of compressed air to fly at Naruto's back only for him to twist around in a split second with his hands yet again hidden by his cloak.

Thrusting his hand forward Naruto let out what looked like a ball of electricity.

"Raikyu." (Lightning Ball) The ball collided with the compressed air and seemed to struggle with it before both of them blew up sending out high winds with static electricity mixed in around the environment.

The ones watching were shocked to see a lightning attack come to a standstill with a wind attack, as wind was more powerful then lightning in the elemental circle. The wind attack should have easily taken out the lightning one. It just showed how strong these lightning attacks Naruto was using really were.

A few seconds later the wind settled down showing both opponents unharmed on the opposite side of the field from each other. Both had sweat on their bodies and looked ready to go at it again any second. They were both covered in debris and dirt, and both had what would later be bruises and cuts.

Looking at each other they both knew that this fight had turned into a stand still as every attack they threw at each other, they would just block or counter.

It was time to bring out the big guns.

And that is exactly what Naruto did. Raising his right arm Naruto grabbed the handle of his sword that until now had been untouched. Grabbing the hilt he waited for Kakashi to make a move.

Kakashi tensed at this. He could clearly remember the words of warning from Jiraiya saying that Naruto was absolutely deadly with that thing. Reaching into his kunai pouch, he fingered a scroll before grabbing a hand full of shuriken and two kunai.

Throwing the shuriken as fast as he could, Kakashi wasn't surprised when they were deflected out of the air like mere playthings from the sword Naruto now held in his hands.

The sword was a piece of art if Tenten and Hayate had ever seen one. The thing was flawless in style and design and if they were to guess it would be perfectly balanced. It was a Katana that was just slightly longer than a normal one with a shinning silver blade with a tint of blue mixed in to the edge.

Kakashi may not have been surprised that they were deflected, but he was surprised when the shuriken came hurtling back at him even faster then he threw them.

Quickly dodging two of them and deflecting the other three into the tree lines while he threw up both of his kunai in a blocking move when Naruto appeared in front of him with a vertical slash aimed to kill.

Seeing his initial strike blocked Naruto pulled back and swung wide at his mid section only for that to be blocked and pushed to the side.

Going with the push Naruto twisted his body around as fast as he could and sent another mid section strike but this time form the other side.

Kakashi wasn't expecting the next strike to be so fast after the first one and hastily pushed up a defense only for him to be rocketed sideways by the sheer power and strength put into the strike.

Tumbling three times before he managed to right himself he quickly jumped to the side to avoid the incoming bullets of rock coming at him from Naruto dragging his sword through the ground and launching them at him with a vertical upward swing.

Seeing his rock barrage dodged Naruto sprinted forward with a thrust that was dodged and had to block a stab with the lower part of his blade.

Letting the kunai slide over his blade until it reached the middle, he pushed back throwing one of Kakashi's arms up while he brought the other down to prepare for his next strike of the sword.

Not disappointing him Naruto jumped forward pushing his entire body weight into his sword.

Kakashi managed to block it but buckled under the pressure he was under. Pushing chakra into his arm muscles he gave an almightily push and threw Naruto straight up.

Naruto took this in stride and twisted his body into a ball while extending his sword down to Kakashi's shoulders effectively slicing his Jounin jacket neck guard in half and leaving a small cut in his skin.

Wincing in pain at the sharp blade he looked up only to see Naruto land on the under part of a tree branch with his legs bent.

Pushing off the tree with as much force as he could muster, Naruto rocketed down to the ground with his blade ready only for Kakashi to leap away and leave him to crash into the ground causing it to shake violently from the impact.

Kakashi could only gap at the power and skill Naruto had with a sword. He wasn't the only one though. Both Tenten and Hayate thought of themselves as great swordsmen, but they were realizing that their skills with the blade were very inadequate when compared with Naruto's.

When the dust cleared from the impact zone, the people watching stared open mouthed at the crater caused and the fissure in the ground. The crater was five feet wide and a foot deep with Naruto calmly standing in the middle of it. His sword was facing the ground with the point centimeters from where the fissure started. The fissure itself was a hair big where it started at Naruto's blade, but expanded ten feet out and grew to be a foot wide and about six feet deep.

Tightening his grip on the hilt of his sword Naruto brought the sword horizontal to his body with his arm out stretched like he was handing the sword to someone.

When he lifted his left arm, the others could see small sparks of electricity forming in his hand. He slowly extended two of his digits out, the pointer and middle finger and placed them on the metal closest to the hilt.

Slowly running his fingers across the blade, Naruto watched as the blade took on a slight blue hue to it and vibrated comfortably in his hand as if the blade itself missed the contact of the electricity now flowing through it.

Bringing his hand down Naruto looked Kakashi over to see him watching the blade with caution while backing away slightly before his back was to a tree.

Turning the sword so its point was facing Kakashi, he slid into the humming bird stance, but this time it was reversed with his right arm in the back and the left arm forward. His left hand had the tip of the sword resting on his thumb ready to be used at any moment with the bladed side pointed towards the sky.

With no warning what so ever, Naruto blasted forward.

There was no other way to describe it as one second Naruto was crouching in his clan's style and the next there was a dust cloud behind him.

Throughout the clearing everyone heard a loud cling and an enormously loud groaning of a tree before they saw Kakashi role away from the tree that he had been standing in front of and then saw half of a tree fall behind him and the other half fall the other way.

The only ones that could actually follow Naruto's movements when he shot forward were Tsunade, Jiraiya, and Kakashi because of his Sharingan eye.

The others were shocked to see that it was actually Naruto that caused the tree to be split from the point of his sword impacting and going though the tree to split all the way to the top.

They didn't get to admire it for long though, seeing as Naruto made some one handed seals under his cloak.

Turning in Kakashi's direction he stepped forward and seemed to blur to where Kakashi was standing leaving after images in his wake from his swords glow of electricity showing him raising it above him and bringing it down.

Kakashi was working over time trying to keep up with Naruto's speed and technique with a sword. The weird thing was that the lightning was interfering with his Sharingan eye ability to predict his opponent's movements. It was still working but it was sending off electricity that was leaving a trail itself making it hard to distinguish between where it would be and where it was at the moment in time.

But luckily for him he was able to keep up with him otherwise he would have been dead by now and that shunshin (High Speed Movement) would have gotten him. But luckily he was able to block in time but had to immediately lower one of his kunai to his chest to block the next swing.

Blocking his twelfth sword slash, Kakashi jumped backward. When he sailed backwards he noticed Naruto wasn't following him, but counted himself lucky.

That is until he landed and brought up his kunai in a defense position and noticed something that is almost impossible happen.

Both of his kunai were cracked in several places and missing chunks of metal on the edges. He gapped at them in shock because kunai where made to be the hardest metal possible. To crack them wasn't unheard of but to do it from sword slashes was unreal.

Focusing past his kunai to the person responsible he saw him standing calmly waiting for him to make a move.

Shaking his head he dropped the now useless kunai and slipped his hand into his kunai pouch taking a scroll out and swiping some blood on the thing while it unrolled.

In a puff of smoke a Kodachi appeared; his old Anbu short sword to be more precise. Taking a hold of the weapon before it fell to the ground he got in to a defensive position.

Seeing his opponent with a proper weapon again Naruto shot forward, but this time at high Jounin level speed.

Blow after blow was exchanged while the rest in the tree lines watched on in fascination at the deadly battle. The old genin could only watch on in shock at Narutos display of power and a little bit of intimidation at his ruthless fighting style.

They didn't know it but the Jounin were thinking along the same lines as them. Jiraiya and Tsunade were watching the exchange of blows with interest and calculating eyes. They both had no idea that Naruto had improved this much over the two and a half years, and to say they were proud would be an understatement. The only bad thing was his way of thinking when it came to his now dead family. It reminded them a lot of Sasuke wanting to kill Itachi way too much for their liking.

Twisting his sword after a parry, Naruto brought his blade under that of Kakashi's shorter one and thrust forward. Him using a short sword was one of the smartest things he could do, as it allowed him to maneuver the blade quicker so he could block Naruto's lightning fast attacks.

That all stopped though when Naruto got under his guard and thrust forward. He had no option but to go backwards and that left his sword arm to be completely open to attack.

Instead of losing his arm, he let the weapon drop to the ground only for it to be hit with Naruto's sword as it was dropping and go twirling in the air imbedding itself up to the hilt in a tree.

Jumping back without a weapon he knew he was almost out of options to turn this thing around. He could see sweat on Naruto's forehead and he was panting slightly, but he himself was in far worse condition. Ever since Naruto drew that sword of his, he's been on the defensive ninety percent of the time.

When Jiraiya said he was deadly with the weapon and there was no one better he's seen, he wasn't lying. He had his doubts as mastering the sword is rather hard, but Naruto more than proved he was capable of using one with deadly efficiency and accuracy.

Finally coming to his only option he could think about to turn this fight in his favor, he pulled out the rest of his shuriken that he noticed were only eight of them. Letting them fly at his opponent he jumped high into the air while going backwards also.

Naruto saw all of this with ease and with the same ease as before sent the shuriken back at Kakashi, only for said man to let out a ball of fire at him.

"Katon: Gokakyu no jutsu." (Grand Fire Ball) Naruto instantly knew something was different when he noticed the fire ball was much smaller than normal,

The fire ball hit the shuriken and redirected them enough for them to be harmless to anyone, while the ball of fire itself continued towards Naruto.

Seeing the incoming ball of fire he twirled his sword in his hand until it was nothing more than a blur in front of him. When the fire impacted it just swooshed around him harmlessly and went out.

Now that the fire was out Naruto could see and hear the purpose of the ball of fire. It was nothing more than a distraction to block his view and to redirect the shuriken to be harmless. It goes without saying that it worked perfectly as now he was staring at a hunched over Kakashi.

That wasn't the bad thing though, no the bad thing was that he was holding his right wrist with his left hand while his right hand had lightning crackling in his open palm that was facing the ground creating a circle of lightning around him. The attack was imitating a chirping noise, but with a thousand bird.

"So it's going to be like that?" Naruto asked while narrowing his eyes.

Shrugging to cause his cloak to move off his shoulder blades slightly Naruto twirled his blade once in a blur of motion in front of him, letting any blood that was on it to fly off, he raised his right arm with the sword and deposited the blade in its sheath with expert precision. With an audible cling the blade disappeared behind his cloak, with only the hilt still being visible after another shrug of his shoulders to put his cloak completely back on.

Only when the cloak moved to completely cover his front side did he move and in a blur of motion hidden by his cloak, he did ten hand seals and crouched down into the same position as Kakashi was in with the cloak now showing his front completely.

With a flash of blue lightning that illuminated everything around him, Naruto's own palm was covered in lightning exactly like Kakashi's was.

Said man looked on in astonishment as he saw a very similar, if not the exact same jutsu as he was holding made by someone else. He created this jutsu; no one else should know how to do this unless he taught them himself and he knew he never taught Naruto this one. It must have been a clan jutsu.

Sensing the chakra coming from Naruto's attack he knew his wouldn't be strong enough to last against it, so he pumped some more chakra into it while molding it in a different way around his hand and inside his body. The effect was easily seen and heard. The lightning turned from a whitish color to a dark blue like Naruto's was, and the thousands of birds chirping stopped and turned into a small humming and hissing like Naruto's was putting out.

Watching each other like hawks waiting for their prey to make a move they stared each other in the eye until the wind decided to pick up at that exact moment in time and they both shot forward at high blurring speed.

To the others watching they knew this would be the final strike they made and would be the deciding factor of the fight. To see two lightning attacks of such high caliber go against each other was a treat in itself, but to see two S-rank jutsu go against each other was amazing.

Meeting in the middle they both threw there right arms forward as they were dragging them behind them before, the two attacks meet head on while their respective person yelled out the attack.

"Raikiri!" (Lightning Blade) Kakashi yelled over the attack.

"Gekido Sando Ken!" (Raging Thunder Blade) Naruto yelled out equally as loud.

With a resounding boom they connected causing a shock wave to go through the clearing and then the sound of thunder was heard miles away.

Sparks and stray lightning flew everywhere in twenty feet of Naruto and Kakashi who were leaning into their attacks putting everything they had into them with the lightning dancing around and in-between them. It was a rather amazing sight to see, if it wasn't such a deadly attack going on.

Setting his foot hard into the ground Naruto pushed forward with everything he had in the attack effectively making Kakashi slide back an inch before he pushed just as hard keeping it at a standstill.

Seeing nothing was going to happen but there attacks canceling each other out, Naruto did something that surprised everyone there.

Thrusting his left arm out to the side, electricity quickly formed a familiar palm of lightning.

Seeing his tactic Kakashi did the same thing as Naruto just did not even a half second later.

With two newly created S-rank jutsu's ready to use, they both thrust there attacks at each other trying to win the struggle that until now was a stalemate.

With an equally large shockwave as the first one the two attacks collided head on, while the sound of thunder could be heard from miles away.

Struggling to overpower the other, both Naruto and Kakashi pushed all they could to get the advantage but after no ground was made for three seconds Naruto redirected his attack slightly.

This had an immediate effect on the stalemate as it caused Kakashi to get more ground and allow him to push aside one of Naruto's lightning covered hands and go for a stab on his body.

Naruto was expecting just this as he went with the flow and brought his other lightning covered hand to block and pushed that one away while dropping down to do a leg sweep.

Seeing this Kakashi jumped over the leg and went for a downward slice.

Rolling away while keeping his hands away from his body and the ground Naruto jumped back and then forward with a thrust.

What proceeded from there was a deadly dance of colliding lightning covered hands and dodging until someone made a mistake and the other could take advantage of it.

The rest watched on with baited breath as they all knew that with one mistake they would easily kill each other, as both of their lightning covered hands could cut through a person with ease. They knew better than trying to interfere and possibly getting in the way also, if they did that they could cause one of them to be injured or worse by distracting them.

Blocking a hit aimed for the shoulder blade, Naruto pushed it to the side, throwing his own at Kakashi.

Said man blocked it with expert handling with his own hand, and pushed it upwards.

Naruto had no option but to follow the movement leaving both of them with one hand ready to use and the other out of the way for a second. With an upper swing Naruto hit Kakashi's other hand and they struggled to overpower the other for just a second but by that time they could use their other hand again to attack.

Bringing his other hand down to his one that was struggling with Kakashi's; Naruto aimed it right at his arm.

Seeing this, Kakashi couldn't get his other hand to intercept it in time so pulled back while bringing the other one up to Naruto's side.

Seeing the other deadly hand coming and having no time to block it easily he pushed his two hands together and let one diminish slightly while the other strengthened and pushed the weaker hand away by being over powered it caused it to shoot into Kakashi's incoming hand while restoring the power to it.

This caused Naruto to be able to push Kakashi's hand away and leave him defenseless. Taking advantage of that Naruto thrust his free hand forward right at Kakashi's chest.

Tsunade, Jiraiya, and everyone else watching the fight let out a breath when they saw the deadly dance was over with Naruto holding his lightning covered hand eight inches away from Kakashi's chest.

Seeing the man doing nothing but standing rigidly, Naruto jumped back and the lightning slowly dissipated around his hands until there was nothing left.

Kakashi did the same thing seeing he lost fair and square and let his lightning covered hands dissipate returning them to normal.

The second the two attacks had completely disappeared from Kakashi's hands he winced closing his left eye containing the Sharingan and grabbing his right arm that had a two inch cut on his bicep while panting heavily.

Naruto on the other hand, just stood there panting moderately while staring at his opponent.

Both Kakashi and Naruto had multiple injuries on their respective bodies. Though Kakashi looked slightly worse for wear then Naruto did. They both had multiple bruises and small cuts on them. The only big one on Naruto was the bruising around his ribs. Kakashi on the other hand had multiple injuries. His right arm was the most noticeable one with a cut two inches long and an inch deep in his shoulder. He had small cuts all over his body from Naruto's sword making contact with skin. Then there were bruises forming on various points of his body. Over all Kakashi wouldn't be doing any serious fighting for a day or two.

Seeing that everything was finally over, the observers of the match came down to inspect the damage up close. From an above view the training field looked destroyed with multiple craters, scorch marks, and weapons imbedded around the place.

Just as they were landing on the ground from their positions in the trees, a dozen Anbu dropped into the field surrounding Kakashi and Naruto in a circle. The leader of the squadron quickly assessed the field and saw all the damage and figured it was caused by the two they were surrounding. Just when he was about to turn his eyes back to the two of them, he saw Tsunade and multiple other Jounin and Chunnin drop from a nearby tree and the Hokage quickly walking up to him.

"What's the meaning of this Neko?!" Tsunade asked dangerously.

Said Anbu captain was smart enough to know when their Hokage was angry and quickly explained before she got the wrong impression.

"We came to investigate the two bangs of thunder we heard Hokage-sama." The Anbu replied hurriedly while standing straighter.

Tsunade eyed them all, and then nodded in understanding. "Very well Neko. Stand down; the two sounds you most likely heard were Hatake and Uzumaki fighting."

Just as Neko was about to retort to her commander one of her subordinates spoke up. "The demon did that to Kakashi?" He asked with obvious venom in his voice.

Tsunade whirled on the said person and glared right into his mask that she knew hide a slightly scared face. "What did you say shark?" She questioned threatingly.

The said Anbu with the code name shark turned his head away from her and looked at Naruto that was standing to the side with his hands crossed over his chest watching calmly while the rest of the Anbu still surrounding him and Kakashi.

"The Kyuubi brat attacked Kakashi Tsunade-sama." He stated more as a fact then a question while looking directly at Naruto's emotionless face.

Tsunade bristled at what she heard. The other Jounin in the area could easily see her getting ready to send this new-be Anbu on a one way trip to the hospital, while the former genin watched on in slight confusion on why he was calling Naruto all these things.

Just as Tsunade was about to yell at the fool, her eyes widened with everyone else's in the clearing at what they just saw.

Not even two second before, just after the Anbu code named shark finished talking, Naruto disappeared from his spot with a burst of speed and reappeared behind the startled Anbu who insulted him while simultaneously removing his sword from its hilt on his back and brought it about in a horizontal swing.

A second later he flicked his wrist cleaning the blood off the sword to give it a clean silver shine and re-sheathed his sword in one swift fluent movement.

The only ones to even catch the movement were those of Jounin level or above. The rest just saw Naruto appear behind the Anbu re-sheathing his sword as the body in front of him slowly tilted forward. When the body hit the ground, the head rolled silently away as if it was never even attached to begin with.

Everyone tensed but one command from their Hokage to stand down stopped them in their tracks.

"Neko, take your squad and leave. There's no reason for you to be here." Tsunade stated calmly, to calmly after seeing Naruto just behead someone.

"And the dead body maim?" She asked gesturing to her former comrade.

Tsunade looked at the dead man coldly. "Take his body to the infirmary and inform his family of his death, he broke the law and paid the price, go."

"Hai Hokage-sama." With that the Anbu in the area disappeared in moments.

Once they were all gone, Tsunade turned to Naruto and looked at him with a blank face.

Seeing her expression and knowing what she wanted he explained himself. "Like you said Hokage-sama, he broke the law and I was just fulfilling the punishment for said crime." He stated in a mono tone voice while his face was emotionless and blank.

"Wait just a second! You just killed a guy right in front of us, one of our own Konoha ninja and you say it's O.K. What the hell kind of law is that?!" Kiba yelled out looking for answers but only receiving silence in return. The other former genin were wondering the same thing.

Just when he was about to demand answers Naruto spoke up. "If you don't know the law Inuzuka, then it is none of your concern." He spoke without even looking at him but staring down Tsunade. Neither of them seemed like they would back down any time soon.

"What the hell does that mean dope?!" He yelled angrily.

"Enough Kiba! Even though Naruto should have left that for me to handle, he is right, what he did was well within his rights to do." Seeing Kiba about to protest again she spoke up again stopping him.

"He's also right about the fact if you don't know the law, then there's no reason for you to concern yourself with it. It's an S-class secret and it will stay that way until I or Naruto says otherwise."

"What do you-?" Kiba's question was cut off by Shino grabbing his shoulder and shaking his head in the negative to indicate to drop it, grumbling he did so.

"Well…" Tsunade said quietly bringing everyone attention back to her. "Now that the fights over and it's just us again, we should probably get you two healed." She stated looking at both Naruto and Kakashi and then turning to her apprentice that's been surprisingly quite the whole time.

"Sakura, you go look after Naruto's injures and I'll take care of Kakashi okay?" She asked her apprentice giving her a look that clearly said not to argue.

Seeing the look she nodded. "Hai Tsunade-shishou." (Master)

With that parting word she slowly walked over to Naruto and stopped in front of him. He only continued to stare her down as she approached slowly, and saw the look she was giving him as if she was scared of him.

She noticed right away that she was way shorter than he was. That was definitely different for her. As she used to have to look down at him but now she had to look up a good five inches to make eye contact.

Slowly going through hand seals, Sakura held her hands up a few seconds later and a soft green glow encompassed them with a soft humming sound.

Seeing her healing chakra was working perfectly well, she brought her hands to Naruto's ribs but was stopped short by a hand grabbing her wrists. She looked up into his face to see him looking down at her with a blank face.

That look sent a shiver down her spine and she gave him a questioning look. "I'm just going to heal your bruised ribs Naruto." She stated quietly.

Naruto just continued to look at her with that blank face. By that time they had attracted everyone's attention to themselves and Sakura was starting to get nervous and it showed by the sweat sliding down her face.

Finally Naruto pushed her glowing green hands down away from his body and let go of her wrists. "I'll be fine Haruno." He stated in a monotone and turned on the spot and walked silently over to a different area well aware that everyone was following his every move and action. Ignoring them he leaned against a tree and closed his eyes shutting out everything around him, or so it seemed to the others.

Jiraiya watched on sadly as did Tsunade now that she knew why he acted the way he did. The night before, Jiraiya told her that Akara used to heal his wounds when he got hurt. She was by no means as good as Sakura or herself but she knew the basics about medical chakra and how to heal. Shaking her head sadly she turned back to see Kakashi frowning and looking at Naruto in wonder while she healed him up. She knew that even without getting healed by Sakura that Naruto would be as good as new in a few hours if not a day at most.

Ten minutes later she was done with healing Kakashi and turned her attention to the others around her. Jiraiya was leaning beside Naruto a few feet away from him. The Jounin were talking with each other in a small group with Neji left out. He was with the other former genin talking with them. They seemed frustrated and she caught tidbits of their conversation to know that they had tried to talk to Naruto but he would only give short answers and nothing more. And when they asked something he didn't want to talk about, he downright ignored them.

By the looks of things only Neji, Shino, and Lee were able to get him to answer some questions and even those were short and to the point but after a while he just stopped answering.

She frowned seeing him acting like this but she knew there was very little she could do to help him get over what has happened in his short life. She was just happy he wasn't worse than he is though.

'With all the crap that's gone wrong in his life I'm surprised he's still sane, let alone somewhat normal.' She thought sadly while looking at him with a faraway look.

Shaking her head she came back to the present and saw that everyone was in there own conversations. She noticed that Kakashi was standing over by the other Jounin still looking at Naruto with a calculating eye every now and then.

Looking at Naruto she slowly brought her thoughts fully to the present and approached him. When she started moving she absently noticed everyone in the clearing following her moves like they did Naruto's earlier but just like him, she ignored them all.

Standing in front of him she cleared her throat causing Naruto to open his eyes and lock eyes with her before pushing off the tree and standing five feet in front of her at attention.

"Hai Hokage-sama?" He asked in that annoyingly so monotone voice he's developed.

"Hayate, Hatake, come here." Tsunade commanded not breaking the eye contact she had with Naruto.

Said gentlemen were at her side in moments awaiting her orders.

"As you know, I came up with this test to asses Uzumaki Raishin Naruto on his skill level and what rank he should be bestowed. After fighting and seeing his skills in battle what is your opinion on him." Here she turned her head to Kakashi.

Seeing she wanted him to go first he did just that. "Well… you've definitely grown stronger over the past two and a half years Naruto." He stated looking at Naruto and getting no response he continued.

"I only have one question before I can fully answer you Hokage-sama." Seeing her nod in acceptance he turned in Naruto's direction and stared straight at him.

"That final attack you did… what was it exactly? It looked like a copy of my Raikiri."

Naruto looked at him for a few seconds before answering. "It may be hard for you to understand Hatake, but that attack was created even before you were born. If anything, you made a copy of it, not the other way around. It's called 'Gekido Sando Ken'. (Raging Thunder Blade) As you might have noticed they are not the same attacks, just the same power. Mine created a loud shock wave that sounded like thunder. Mine is also different as you don't need the Sharingan to use it."

Seeing he wouldn't continue Kakashi pushed. "Can you tell me why you don't need the Sharingan? My 'Raikiri' creates a vacuum effect making a person have tunnel vision, so it's required to have the Sharingan."

"My 'Gekido Sando Ken' has no such limitations. The way the electricity flows and is formed allows me to use it as I see fit, without effecting any of my abilities." Naruto told him matter of factly.

Narrowing his eyes he nodded in understanding. "I see. Well I must say that everything you showed in our fight was easily Jounin level. I think you deserve the rank. You definitely have the mind set to be a Jounin also, so no problems there. Over all I'd say promote him Hokage-sama."

Nodding in Kakashi's direction, Tsunade turned to Hayate. "And your opinion on his sword skills Hayate?" She questioned already knowing his answer, as did everyone else in the clearing.

Stepping forward he gave her a slight bow of the head in acknowledgment. "His skills with the sword are easily beyond my own. I noticed throughout the fight when you were using your sword that you used multiple styles, is this true?" He directed the question at Naruto.

Said man nodded his head in the affirmative, but didn't bother to elaborate any. Seeing this Hayate continued. "As I thought. I saw at least four different styles combined into one to make what he has. Over all I highly doubt you've used even close to your most deadly attacks with the sword, have you Naruto?"

Again all he got was silence, but this time he was stared down by said man intently, like he was searching on how much he knew. "Over all Hokage-sama, I'd say if he ever went full out with a sword, he could possibly be as good as the seven swordsmen of the mist."

The others looked at him like he was crazy, but seeing his serious look they knew he wasn't kidding about what he said on Naruto's sword skills. Turning to the one they were talking about, they saw him with an emotionless mask like before.

Nodding in thanks, Tsunade turned her full attention back to Naruto. "I can safely say that your skills are on Jounin level, if not slightly higher than that. You also have the right mind set to be a Jounin. You have no problem following the rules, taking the necessary actions when needed and knowing how to handle different situations correctly. With all this in mind, as Hokage of this village, I bestow upon you the rank of Jounin."

Taking out a scroll from her pockets, she opened it up some and pushed some chakra into it, to have a Jounin flank jacket pop out in a cloud of smoke. Putting the scroll away she lifted the vest in front of him.

"Congratulations on your new rank Uzumaki Raishin Naruto."

"Thank you Hokage-sama." Naruto's monotone voice replied while taking the vest from her outstretched hands and sealing it inside one of his own scrolls. If one were to listen closely they would have heard the slight happy tone in his voice, but most of them didn't catch it.

Dejected at not getting a bigger response out of him, she shook her head to clear it of thought before addressing him again.

"Come by my office tomorrow afternoon so I can explain your full responsibilities then, until then your free to go." She dismissed with a happy smile in his direction.

"All right Naruto-kun, you made Jounin, your flames of youth burn most brightly, I'll have to increase my own training two fold to catch up with you!" Lee joyously shouted while clasping Naruto on the back.

"You said it Lee, who would have thought that the dead last would become so strong." Kiba grinned in Naruto's direction while walking up to him.

"Y-you did r-really well N-Naruto-kun." Hinata congratulated him shyly.

"It seems you've gotten a lot stronger since the last time we fought Naruto." Neji said stoically.

Within the next couple of minutes all the former genin and even the Jounin complimented Naruto on his skills and welcomed him back into the village happily. Through this all Naruto remained silent while the others commented on his skills and talked amongst themselves, even though he didn't answer any of them back. Finally they noticed he wasn't answering and an awkward silence grew amongst them.

Stepping forward slightly while keeping her head down and twiddling with her thumbs, Hinata breathed in slightly and looked up into Naruto's eyes.

"W-would you like to go-o get some d-dinner with me and the o-others?" She asked nervously.

The others looked between the two of them, with conflicting emotions. They all knew that Hinata had a crush on Naruto, that she's had one on him for a long time, since they were in the academy actually, and for her to ask him now, was a big step for her.

But they also all knew that Naruto was married at one point when he was away from the village for the last two and a half years. They didn't know the full details but they knew that she had been killed and that Naruto had obviously loved her very much.

Jiraiya and Tsunade were the only ones that knew the full story and they both winced when they heard the question. They knew talking about Naruto's wife was a very sore subject for him. Jiraiya confirmed this to Tsunade a lot to make the point clear to her. They knew that Naruto wouldn't react well to her question; they just hope he didn't hurt her too much.

Looking at Hinata straight in the eye, he answered with some slight force in his voice. "No."

Hinata looked down at the ground while stuttering out a reply. "O-h, w-well t-that's ok t-then N-Naruto-kun."

Kiba narrowed his eyes at Naruto while stomping up to him so there faces were only inches apart. "You don't have to be such an ass to her you know, she was only asking if you wanted to go out to eat with us and catch up." Kiba practically growled out in Naruto's face.

"Y-you d-don't have to d-defend me K-Kiba." Hinata mumbled out shyly.

Naruto just stared straight into Kiba's eyes, not the least bit intimidated by his aggression. "That's not why I said no Inuzuka."

Kiba growled at the use of his last name. "Oh then do tell, and why don't you use my first name Naruto?"

Naruto calmly took a few steps back to get some distance between them and responded in kind. "I don't use your first name because I don't want to. As for the reason I said no to Hinata's question is simple. I have no interest in spending time with her what so ever." He stated with a monotone voice avoid of emotions.

Hinata's head lowered even more, while the others in the clearing narrowed their eyes in Naruto's direction seeing him speak those hurtful words to Hinata.

"Why you-!" Kiba started but was interrupted.

"I know all about her crush on me." That statement had Hinata's head snapping up in his direction and a few heads to turn to look at him with wonder.

"I'm no fool when it comes to love. I fell in love with the most beautiful woman in the world, which I had planned on spending the rest of my life with." Naruto's soft voice traveled to each of their ears and caught their attention.

"Sadly all happy things in my life must come to an end, and she was killed in front of my eyes. I want nothing to do with another woman for the rest of my life. So her feelings for me are pointless as they will never be returned. The sooner she realizes this, the happier she'll be." Naruto finished coldly while turning around and walking away silently.

The others could only watch his retreating back with different emotions. Some were angry at him for the way he shot down Hinata, but at the same time they knew he was suffering even more than she could ever feel on the inside. He may not show it, but they could easily tell that he missed his wife greatly, and still felt pain whenever she was mentioned.

Letting him leave they turned to Hinata to see her crying with Kurenai soothing her distraught former student.

Kakashi, Jiraiya, and Tsunade each watched Naruto's retreating form with different thought on their minds. They couldn't imagine going through all he's gone through and still be sane after it all. They each caught what Naruto said, "Sadly all happy things in my life must come to an end." To know that after everything he has gone through, all of that, and probably even more than they knew about, all he's ever wanted deep down was a family to love. And when he finally gets it, it's torn away from him. They just couldn't imagine how that felt and how much that must have hurt him.

Sadly watching his form completely disappear, they turned to the others around them to see them retreating back to the village, each going their separate ways.

Nodding to the others, they too went back to Konoha; all having similar thought that surrounded the new Naruto.

* * *

Author Notes:

Not much to say really, everything I wanted to say I said at the very top before the chapter started…by the way go read that if you didn't.

As always I hope you enjoyed the chapter as much as I did writing it, if you have any questions or comments feel free to leave a review or PM and I'll most likely answer back.

Battousai222


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